


Ashes and Emeralds

by DrawnToDarkness



Category: Tin Man (2007)
Genre: Drama, F/M, Family, Friendship, Post-Canon, Post-Eclipse, Prophecy, Romance, Talking Animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 14:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 55,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17726936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrawnToDarkness/pseuds/DrawnToDarkness
Summary: Posted to ff.net years ago. The aftermath of the Eclipse doesn't lead to an automatic happy ending as new and old dangers rise once again in the OZ.





	Ashes and Emeralds

**Author's Note:**

> Found this on my hard drive and realised it'd never been posted here. Since I also found two not finished Tin Man stories, I thought I'd post it to test the waters - is anyone still out there in this fandom interested in a new Tin Man story or two?

There was no time for celebration, no time to spread the joyous word that the youngest princess had returned and freed the elder from possession of the evil witch. Almost as soon as the battle was over, the former advisors and cowardly nobles who'd once served the Royal Family crept out of their hiding places and insisted on an audience with the Queen.

An audience that was granted within weeks. 

While she wasn't privy to exactly what had been said, DG learnt enough in the days that followed. The Queen's people demanding more than answers; they demanded a scapegoat, someone to hold accountable and who could be punished for the witch's deeds.

Azkadellia was the obvious choice but her sister was far too weak, too vulnerable to face them. DG didn't give it a second thought, didn't hesitate for a single moment, volunteering herself in her sister's stead.

The Queen tried to fight it but, when DG revealed how her sister had come to be possessed during an impassioned plea to spare Azkadellia any further suffering, the newly reinstated council of the O.Z. made their decision and could not be swayed.

The younger Daughter of Light and saviour of the O.Z. would be punished for bringing the witch's darkness to the land. When their chosen form of punishment was revealed, Queen Lavender fainted into her husband's unsteady arms and Azkadellia collapsed into hysterical sobs.

DG, for her part, stood with her back ramrod straight and took the news calmly.

Princess DG of the Outer Zone was to be punished by execution, hung on the gallows the Sorceress herself had had installed in the square of Central City.

***

The words didn't make sense. He'd read the letter three, maybe four times and still the words didn't make any sense.

"Dad? You okay?"

Instead of answering, Cain waved the hand holding the sheet of paper in his son's direction, his cool blue gaze starting blankly into the space in front of him. 

"Is it another letter from the Queen? Further orders?" Jeb Cain, Captain of the newly reformed Queen's Guard took the letter without hesitation. He scanned the hastily scrawled sentences, the crease in his brow getting deeper with every word. "They can't do that!" He burst out once he was finished reading. He looked from his father to the letter and back again. "Surely the Queen can't allow..."

"The Queen's weak," Cain interrupted wearily. He took his fedora off with one hand, using the other to rub his temples. "She can't afford to alienate those who support her, not with so much unrest in the O.Z."

"Yeah, but surely she can do something! She's not going to let them hang DG – they can't! The people will be in uproar!" Jeb shook his head, unable to understand it. Although there'd been no official release from the palace, the people of the O.Z. knew the shift in their fortune was related to DG's return. Everyone he and his men had spoken to, every village they rode through, had had nothing but good things to say about the Queen's youngest daughter. He didn't want to witness their reaction once the news spread; didn't want to think about the despair and anger and conflict the announcement would surely create. "The Queen has to know how unwise this is. She'll be facing a civil war in next to no time."

"She probably won't care," his father said after a while. "Not after losing DG again. It'll destroy her, destroy the whole family."

"Leaving room for some noble idiot to move in and seize the throne," Jeb finished grimily, "which is probably exactly why they're doing this. The nobles and advisors who fled can't take on the House of Gale unless it's weakened first."

The two Cain men sat in silence for a long time, staring into the dying flames of the camp fire as the first of the two suns rose in the cloudless sky above. When his men woke and gradually joined them, Jeb broke the news to his Second-in-Command, trusting the former soldier of the rebellion army to spread the word.

And spread it did, along with the grumblings and mutterings that something – anything – had to be done. Not one of the soldiers travelling with them had a bad word to say about the young princess and not one was willing to stand by and let her be taken from them for a second time.

It wasn't until midday, when they'd already started moving, riding towards the outskirts of the Zone that Wyatt Cain stopped his mount, tugging lightly on the reins until his horse was facing in the opposite direction of the men he was travelling with.

Towards Central City, DG and the gallows waiting for her.

"Go," Jeb told his father, grey-blue eyes meeting icy blue ones for the first time since breaking camp that morning. "We'll gather as many men as we can and meet you there."

Cain gave his son a small nod – of thanks and of acknowledgement – and spurred his horse into moving.

Central City was almost a full day's ride away, longer if he ran into any unfriendlies on the way. He clenched his jaw and said a silent apology to his horse for the punishing journey ahead of them.

***

No matter where she went in the palace, DG always seemed to cause some sort of commotion. If it wasn't maids bursting into floods of tears at the sight of her or stoic guards offering to smuggle out of the palace to help her escape her fate while knowing that if they were overheard or caught, her fate would become theirs, it was a member of Lord Calletta's party, sneering at her and making snide comments about her bleak future.

The Lord, it seemed, was already making the palace at Central City and no one, not her mother or her father or any of those still loyal to the House of Gale could stop him.

DG didn't understand it, not one bit.

Lord Calletta had spent most of the witch's reign hiding in the Blood Mountains, named for the few perfect rubies that had been found there some centuries ago. Little had been found since and anyone who attempted to mine there simply didn't return, adding to the mysterious reputation the mountains had. 

How he'd ended up head of her mother's council, DG didn't know and no one else could explain it, either. All anyone knew was that he and his party of servants and guards – the majority of them malnourished, through their leader hadn't seemed to have suffered – had ridden into the city one day and demanded refuge.

Queen Lavender had welcomed them graciously into her home; Lord Calletta was, after all, the only son of one of the O.Z's most noble families – and the only surviving child of a couple DG learned her mother had once been close to.

After that, Lord Calletta had quickly been welcomed back into the fold by the others who swarmed around the Queen like flies on something unpleasant. Instead of being treated like the coward he was, he was given a hero's welcome. He was brave, the others said, for taking his servants with him instead of leaving them to the witch's mercy. He was wise, apparently, for fleeing into the mountains – courageous, even, for risking it not knowing what awaited him.

Brave, wise, courageous, strong, handsome... blah, blah, blah. DG wasn't impressed by the young Lord which, she supposed, was what had earned her his wrath. She didn't flutter around him or simper like the daughters of the other noble's who'd returned to the city to reclaim their land and titles did. She didn't fawn all over him and fall at his feet or plead to be told the same boring story of that one time he and his people had encountered a wild mountain cat – a female, DG guessed, after hearing of the poor beast's struggle to defend her cubs. She wasn't at all impressed – more like sickened – by the heavy fur robe he wore on the cooler nights, especially after he told the story and explained that the two cubs had kept his people fed for days.

On the first telling of the story, DG had struggled to keep her disgust from showing. On the fourth and fifth telling, she'd made no secret of her anger at the Lord's actions and her pity for the poor animals. 

Lord Calletta hadn't been pleased with her response and had made no secret of it. She had found herself walking through the hallways of her family home feeling like she was walking around with a target painted on her back.

And that was before the meeting, before the council had demanded someone be punished for what had happened.

Before, DG thought as she escaped to the rooftop gardens for a moment's respite, Lord Calletta had made his intentions towards her known. He had casually mentioned over dinner one night that it was high time she found herself a husband and shouldn't she chose someone a little older, wiser, with the respect of his peers. More than a little infuriated by the cocky way he'd implied she should look no further than across the table, DG had smartly countered that when she someone who met that description and who she found worthy of her affections asked for her hand in marriage, she would consider it.

With a sigh, she sat down on one of the stone benches overlooking the city and tried to keep her mind from straying in the direction it always seemed to whenever marriage was mentioned or at least thought of.

The one direction it shouldn't – couldn't – go in because it just wasn't possible, especially not with a death sentence looming over her.

She wasn't sure how long she sat in the garden, inhaling the once foreign but slowly growing familiar once more blooms of the flowers around her. The longer she stayed in the O.Z., the clearer her childhood memories became – something that both delighted and saddened her father, who was slowly regaining his youngest daughter just as soon as he was losing her again.

"I sent them letters." It was his voice that startled her now as he joined her in the garden. He sat down beside her, his hand resting next to hers on the cool stone surface. "I don't know if they'll get them in time or even if they'll get them at all but I sent them. I tried to tell them."

'Tried to ask them for help,' DG added silently, not needing clarification on who 'they' were. The true heroes of the Eclipse, the three men who'd stood by her side and kept her alive during the first days of her return to the Zone.

Three men who, she knew, her father was hoping would somehow be able to defy the odds and keep her alive once more.

Instead of telling him she doubted it would help, DG moved her hand to cover her father's. "Thank you, Dad."

Ahamo cleared his throat, his fingers tightening almost painfully around hers. He said nothing else, unable to speak past the lump in his throat even if he had known what to say. His wife was fading before his eyes, her body giving up as her light was drained away by the stress and grief. His eldest daughter was a shell of her childhood self, a recluse by choice who couldn't look at her own reflection for fear of what she might see staring back and his youngest, his spitfire... The one light in his miserable existence, the one thing that kept him hoping for a happy ending... 

Her light still shone brightly but only until those who would revel in his family's misfortune could extinguish it for good.

"Do you think it'll hurt for long?" DG asked after a long silence, her voice sounding so much like the child he remembered that it caused his already breaking heart to ache anew. "Toto told me I can use my magic to block out most of it, put myself in some kind of trance, but I don't know if I can learn how to in such a short space of time."

Tutor had also told her in whispered tones that she could use her light to break the rope and flee unrecognised into the crowd but DG had shook her head at that, knowing to do so would only be to line her sister up to take her place. Besides, she'd pointed out, Lord Calletta had taken a cruel pleasure in telling her that the rope they were going to use had been conjured by the Sorceress herself. As such, it was magically reinforced and protected so that any spell designed to break it would rebound and cause it instead to tighten harder.

"Just don't think about it," was all her father could manage, his eyes clouded over with the tears she could hear in his voice. "Don't think about it, Spitfire, not until you have to."

She had to think of it every waking second, DG thought, and even those rare moments where she slept. It was impossible not to. Still, for his sake, she forced herself to nod and went back to sitting in silence, watching as the suns rose to their peak before sinking behind the Blood Mountains once more.

Another day over and another step day closer to her last.

***  
/Part One  
***

Their reunion happened on the outskirts of Central City. Cain pulled his horse to a halt just in time to avoid its hooves trampling the person who strode out into the road, determination making him oblivious to the narrowly avoided danger.

"What where you're going... Glitch?" As the former advisor and renowned inventor turned around to glare at him, Cain dismounted from his horse. "What are you doing here?"

Instead of greeting him with a confused smile and an enthusiastic embrace, Ambrose stared out at him through Glitch's dark eyes, an eyebrow lifting in derision. "I imagine I'm here for the same reason as you," it was clearly Ambrose, not the former Headcase, who answered him.

It was a testament, Cain realised, to how shaken his friend was. Ever since having his both sides of his brain reattached, Glitch had remained the lovable if a little annoying zipperhead DG had rescued from a munchkin hut. Ambrose only put in an appearance when Glitch was too upset or angry about something to speak without his synapses constantly misfiring.

The Queen's former advisor and loyal friend to the House of Gale had been permitted to stay only a few days longer than Cain and Raw had. After he'd recovered from his operation, the Queen's new council – led by Lord Calletta – had insisted he retire gracefully out in the recovering countryside of the O.Z. He was given a title and a small estate as a way of thanking him for his contribution and loyalty and had been personally escorted to his new home by Lord Calletta's own guard.

A guard, Cain remembered, who'd looked like the thugs he'd once arrested in Central City and were paid, he was certain, to ensure the self-opinionated Lord's orders were carried out no matter who resisted and how loudly they did so. He'd been offered the same 'helpful' security on his departure but had been able to refuse given that his orders were the join Jeb and the newly reformed Royal Guard in finding and capturing any remaining Longcoats scattered through the Zone. Raw and Kalm had left with them – reluctantly leaving a tearful but trying to hide it DG to search and out any others of their kind who survived the witch's reign.

That day was the last they'd all been together, Cain realising, and the last time he'd seen or heard from DG. His heart clenched at the memory of her pale face and shimmering eyes, of the way she squared her shoulders and clenched her fists in an attempt not to cry at their departure or buckle under the strain of the responsibility that awaited her.

"Did Ahamo write to you, too?" There was less Ambrose in the worried tone, more Glitch in the way those dark eyes searched his face. "Did he tell you that DG is going to be hung? That DG is going to... That DG is going to... Ow! Thanks." Glitch rubbed his upper arm. "I've been misfiring a lot lately. More since getting that letter."

"Got one, too," Cain confirmed. "And if I'm not mistaken, that cloaked figure coming towards us did, too."

Glitch turned in the direction Cain pointed in, watching as a hunched over figure in a thick, dusty cloak scurried along the almost empty road towards them. As the figure approached, he threw off his hood, revealing dark eyes shining with concern.

"DG has need of us," Raw greeted them urgently. "Scared but pretending not to be."

"Sounds like the kid," Cain agreed with a sigh. "Think we'll even make it through the front gates?"

Raw tilted his head thoughtfully. The Viewer's eyes slid shut for a moment before opening on a nod. "Lord in control of palace now," he said sadly. "Will allow us to stay, believes it will upset DG."

Cain's jaw clenched, his hand fisting around the reins he held tightly. "The only thing I'm interested in upsetting is that bastard's plans."

"We need to think of how to do that." Glitch suggested, turning to look at the Central City palace and the imposing silhouette it made under the light of the almost full moon. "Before DG..."

"It's not going to happen, Zipperhead," Cain bit off brusquely. He would not think of the gallows standing not more than a few streets away in the middle of the city or let his imagination supply him with the sickening image he'd been fighting to keep from seeing all day. "We'll stop it somehow."

Even if, Cain thought to himself, he had to somehow take her place to do it.

***

She heard the voices for the first time that night. Low whispering she thought she was imagining at first, until they grew louder and more insistent, demanding an answer to questions she didn't understand.

'Will you serve, Lady? Will you accept your duty?'

"Who are you?" Turning away from the window she'd been staring out of since allowing her father to walk her back to her rooms, DG scanned the empty suite, searching for the owner or owners of the voices. "Where are you?"

'We are nowhere. We are everywhere. We are nothing and we are everything.'

"Well, that clears it up," DG muttered sarcastically. She got to her feet and walked into her bedroom, effectively – she hoped – turning her back on the voices. She wondered if insanity ran in her family but decided it would be safer not to ask. Her mother did little bit weep and cling to her every time they saw one another, her father was already questioning her mental state because she was, in his words, 'far too calm' and Azkadellia would only stare at her mournfully and beg to let her take her place at the gallows.

She sat down at the grand vanity table opposite her bed, staring at her reflection with a frown. She was too pale, too thin. Her eyes looked even bigger against the pallor of her skin. Her hair, hanging in loose curls around her face as was befitting of a Princess of the Zone, looked glossy and healthy.

It was about the only part of her that did.

Her appetite was none existent and not just because of the council's decision to treat her like the worst of all war criminals; she'd stopped feeling the desire to eat when Lord Calletta and his cronies had descended on the palace like locusts, shattering the sense of camaraderie that had been in its early stages between her family and friends.

As she stared into the mirror's depths, her reflection morphed into that of a stranger and a gasp escaped her. She instinctively pushed away from the mirror but the woman staring back at her smiled so sadly, she couldn't help but lean forward to get a closer look.

There was something familiar about that smile, something she recognised about it but couldn't place.

'Are you willing to serve?' The voices asked again as the image of the woman faded, replaced instead by dozens of pairs of eyes that stared at her expectantly. 'Are you willing to accept your duty?'

"What duty?" DG squared her shoulders against the unblinking eyes staring out at her from behind the glass. "It would help if I knew what you were talking about."

'Your duty is to us, Lady. To the O.Z. and its kin.' All but one pair of eyes disappeared, leaving her looking into the dark gaze of something so much older, so much more knowledgeable than herself. 'Accept your duty and serve. Reawaken those that still slumber and embrace the destiny that awaits you.'

"The only destiny that awaits me is the hangman's noose," DG replied with quiet acceptance in her voice. "I'm afraid I can't help you, or serve you, or accept whatever duty you want to give me."

The dark eyes stared at her unflinchingly. 'Accept and you will be spared. Serve, and you will be served well in return.' When she didn't answer, the voice – only one, she realised belatedly – continued. 'The darkness spreads like fire in the forest. She will rise again unless you serve.'

"She?" DG sat up straighter. "The Witch is dead. I saw her melt myself."

'She was but one, the weaker of two. The other bides her time but will rise unless she is stopped.'

DG thought of the woman she'd seen in the mirror, the one with the sad eyes and familiar smile. "Who is she? Where is she? How can I stop her...?"

'Serve. Serve, and be served,' was all the voice said before it stopped, disappearing as her reflection returned to normal.

DG frowned at the image of herself, a shiver working its way up her spine. Who was she supposed to serve, she wondered. And who did the voices expect to serve her?

***

They were welcomed but not quite with open arms. The man who opened the door, a butler who'd served the House of Gale for decades and whom had, for the better part of most of the last decade, spent time in the Sorceress's prison, greeted them with polite warmness. Though there'd been no official announcement as to the fate that awaited DG, it was clear that it was common knowledge throughout the palace.

"The Queen is indisposed," the butler, Reynard, explained as he ushered them into the palace. "Lord Calletta greets most of our visitors these days, or the Prince Consort, if he can be found."

"Ahamo would be good," Cain answered for all three of them, earning himself a reproving glance from both Reynard and the Ambrose-side of Glitch at his casual addressing of the Prince-Consort. "DG would be better."

A shadow of what looked like grief passed over Reynard's face. "Her Royal Highness Princess DG is in her rooms. She has asked that she not be disturbed."

"I'm sure the Princess won't mind being disturbed by some old friends." It was said with the easy charm of Flitch and the assured confidence of Ambrose. He looked expectantly at Reynard, who nodded despite the doubtful expression arranging his features.

"I'll show you to your rooms and tell the Princess you have arrived," the butler agreed stiffly, turning his back on them as he let them toward the grand staircase.

Cain let Glitch and Raw precede him, one of his hands moving to rest over the pistol holstered at his side as he followed them. His instincts were screaming at him, telling him something was very wrong at the palace and that he should find DG and run.

Raw turned slightly to look at him when they reached the top of the stairs, his expression speaking volumes as to what the sensitive Viewer was thinking. "DG hard to convince," Raw whispered as he fell into step with Cain. Ahead, Glitch fired question after question at Reynard, keeping the butler's attention diverted. "Princess stubborn but Tin Man stubborn, too."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Cain murmured wryly. "You feel anything strange about the place, Raw? Other than the obvious?"

The Viewer was silent for a moment, a whimper escaping him after a short pause. "Bad things. Bad people. DG not safe. O.Z. not safe."

"Thought as much." Cain's hand drifted towards his trusty pistol once more. "Sooner we get DG out of here, the better."

"Best for all," Raw agreed, his tone distant. "Best for O.Z. and its kin."

Reynard came to a halt halfway down a corridor. He opened a set of doors leading into a suite of rooms that were familiar to Glitch. "I trust your former rooms will be acceptable, Lord Ambrose," the butler said to him. "Mister Cain and Mister Raw are welcome to use the rooms either side. I will take word to Princess DG and ask if she wishes to grant you with an audience tonight or if she would prefer to wait until morning."

He was gone before they could comment, leaving the three men to converge in the main room of Glitch's suite. The former advisor inspected the room with a critical eye, a relieved sigh escaping him when he realised nothing had changed in his absence.

"Might as well get a fire going," Glitch announced after a small silence. "It gets cold on an evening this time of year. It gets cold on an evening this time of year. It gets cold on an... Oomph!"

The enthusiastic embrace of one slip of a princess jolted him from his misfiring. He barely had time to wrap his own arms around her when DG released him, moving to throw her arms around Raw for a few moments before turning her attention to the last member of the group.

Cain was ready for her, his arms closing around her waist as she lingered in his embrace, her body trembling with what he was sure was a combination of relief, exhaustion and fear. She'd lost weight, he thought as he held her, her once slender frame think to the point of being too thin. He could feel her bones through her skin and frowned to himself, wondering how else she'd been mistreated while they were gone. Certainly if the way she clung to him was any indication, the weeks that had passed hadn't been kind to DG.

"Hey there, Princess," he murmured after she pulled away, reluctantly loosening hi arms so he could take a step back and get a good look at her. Tears shimmered in her big blue eyes and her bottom lip quivered though she tried to cling to her composure. "It's okay, kid. We're here now."

"It's not okay, Mister Cain," DG told him solemnly, slipping into the old form of address that quietly drove him insane. "I'm not sure it's ever going to be okay again."

***  
/part two  
***

Reynard was only too happy to arrange for the kitchen to send up an evening meal for the four of them. DG knew the butler was of the opinion it'd been too long since she'd eaten a decent sized meal and no doubt thought the return of her friends would be good for her.

In reality, she thought with a slight grimace, the three men would almost bully her to eat if they had to. Raw would watch her with open concern and make low rumblings of disapproval if she didn't eat enough. Glitch would distract her with stories of the origin of everything on her place and insist she try a bite or two to see if she liked it. As for Cain... Well, he'd just watch her, arching his eyebrow in that way he did, a frown on his face until he was satisfied she'd eaten her fill.

They were good for her, even if she sometimes found their concern for her well-being a little overwhelming.

And she'd missed them. All of them. They'd been sent away just when she'd needed them most – all part of Lord Calletta's plan, she was certain. Take away those that made her strong and launch his underhanded attack on the House of Gale – done so in a way that to accuse him outright would only mean him denying it and her looking like a paranoid Slipper Princess, unfit to rule her people.

DG hadn't wanted to be Queen; she still didn't. But the thought of someone else taking the throne other than herself or her sister, the thought of the Gale line she'd only just started learning about coming to an end filled her with both sadness and guilt that her childhood actions were responsible for it all.

"You gonna eat that or stare at it all night?"

Cain's voice startled her from her thoughts and she looked up from the slice of toast she'd been contemplating. With a quick, weak smile, she took a small bit and chewed it slowly.

"We need to think of a plan," Glitch restarted the conversation, repeating himself for the third time that evening. "The council has a lot of power but surely you're entitled to a trial. All criminals of war get one, after all. Even Longcoats."

"The council carry out the trials," DG pointed out after forcing herself to swallow the dry toast. "They carried out mine – well, Azkadellia's and mine – in private, just as they have done every Longcoat that's been caught and brought back to Central City."

"I hadn't heard that." Cain's blue eyes locked onto DG's. "They've kept the results to themselves if they've been holding Longcoat trials already."

DG braced herself for his reaction and looked away. "Most of them have been pardoned. Some have been sent to the Blood Mountain to try and start a mining colony, though word is we won't see any of them again. Lord Calletta seems to think otherwise; he's the only one who believes there's something worth mining there."

"Pardoned?" The anger she'd been expecting could be heard rumbling under the surface of his voice. "You're telling me the Longcoats we've been tracking down have been let go again once they get here?"

"Most of them." DG forced herself to hold his gaze. "They way I figure, it kills two birds with one stone for Calletta. One, it wins him some allies for when he makes his play for the throne and two, it's a great way to keep the Royal Guards busy elsewhere. If my father hadn't wrote to you, you'd still be out there with Jeb, hunting down an endless stream of Longcoats – the same ones, over and over again."

Cain frowned, casting his mind back to the last arrests he and his son had made. There'd been something familiar about one of the men they'd arrested, something unnerving in the cocky grin on his face. Almost as if he'd known how it would end for him, as if he'd known he'd be free again soon.

"You should write to Jeb," DG said softly. "I can't guarantee he'll get it - most of our letters don't make it to or from the palace these days – but it's worth a try. Or, I suppose, you could always deliver the news in person. After."

"There's not going to be an 'after'." The growl would have made her smile and compare him to Raw under other circumstances but DG couldn't manage even that small gesture. "Jeb's on his way here, anyway. He and the Royal Guard, and as many men as they can get."

DG blinked, surprise written all over her face. "Why...?"

"People of the O.Z. not let Princess die." It was Raw who answered, reaching out a furry hand to pat hers reassuringly. "Once word spreads, people will come to protest and protect Princess."

"But I'm responsible for it. For everything!" DG's eyes widened as she looked at each man in turn. "You all know that. Everyone knows it, or will once Calletta releases a statement announcing it."

"They won't care, doll. You were all of five annuals when the witch was released." Glitch dismissed her concerns with the wave of his hand. "If anything, people might start questioning where the people who were looking after you were."

"My father was visiting the Western Guild," DG said defensively. "And my mother had a meeting to prepare for. She had a report to read and notes to make..."

"But where were your guards, DG? The nursery maid who was supposed to keep an eye on you and your sister, to keep you from getting up to the mischief you were renowned for?" When DG only stared at him, Glitch sighed and shook his head. "I know your parents trusted Az to look after you, and they allowed you the illusion of freedom but you were still children, still princesses of the O.Z. At all times, you should've been shadowed by at least one trained guard in case of kidnapping or assassination attempts."

As Glitch spoke, an image formed in her mind. A memory she'd forgotten until that moment. There was a pretty blond with a happy flush in her cheeks, gazing adoringly up at an equally smitten bear of a man dressed in a slightly rumpled soldier's uniform.

"Lucille and Martin," DG murmured, her brow furrowed as her memory of them cleared. "They were an item," she added softly, recalling the ay the nursery maid would blush and giggle whenever there was a change of guard and Martin came on duty. "I remember them coming into the maze with us but they didn't follow us out. Az wasn't surprised. She took me down to the lake and we skipped stones for a bit. She said they'd catch up but I don't remember if they ever did."

She didn't remember seeing either of them after that morning. She recalled, in horrific detail, letting go of Azkadellia's hand and hearing her sister's screams as the witch possessed her. She remembered running, crying, to her mother, who'd finished her meeting and was waiting patiently on the swing for her daughters to return so they could spend the afternoon together. She remembered her parents rarely letting her out of their sight for long after that, remembered how Az had started staying in her room away from everything else until they arrived at the Northern Palace some months later and the Witch made her sister kill her.

Had Azkadellia been fighting her possession in those weeks and months, DG wondered. Would their mother have been able to save her eldest daughter so much misery and heartache if only she'd tried..?

It was difficult, maybe impossible, to know for sure. The only two women who could answer her questions were in no fit state to do so; her mother was too distraught, too guilt-ridden to ask and Azkadellia... Az rarely left her rooms and, even when she did, her older sister was too frail to risk upsetting further.

"If the people will object, why is he doing this? He wants to be popular, wants to be able to take the throne unchallenged..." DG shook her head and sighed deeply. "I don't understand."

"Us, either." Glitch gave her a sympathetic glance. "I wish we knew what he was planning. I wish we knew what he was planning. I wish we knew... Thanks, doll."

"Anytime."

The frown on Cain's face only seemed to deepen as the two spoke. "I thought maybe he was planning to take control after starting a civil war but it seems unlikely he'd want to be associated with so much bloodshed if he wants to keep his image clean and be popular."

Raw, studying DG intently, released a low grumble. "Other ways to get the throng. Ways that will win support of people." When his three companions stared at him questioningly, the Viewer tilted his head. "People would welcome if Lord stood up for Princess. If Lord saved DG in public."

"That wouldn't get him the throne, Raw!" DG protested. "My mother might be forced to give him more land or a grander title but it wouldn't get him what he ultimately wants, which is control of the O.Z."

During her argument, Cain grew very still. The Viewer's words stated to make sense to him and he felt something heavy settle uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach. "Has the creep ever made any advances towards you, Princess?"

The answer was obvious in the way she blushed and tried to sink back into the armchair she was sitting in. Averting her gaze, the Princess shrugged a slender shoulder. "He... He might have implied he'd make a good husband once over a dinner. Said I was well past marrying age and I'd be lucky if anyone else wanted me."

While Cain bristled at the insinuation on her behalf, Glitch leaned forward, his interest piqued. "What did you say to that, DG?"

DG shrugged again, a slight smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I might've said I'd consider marriage if someone I thought worthy of a lifetime commitment ever asked me. I'm pretty sure it was that night he decided he'd quite like to see me hang."

"Either you're executed and he seizes the throne when it's vulnerable or he steps in to save you and you're forced to marry him out of gratitude. No matter what, he gets what he wants – control of the Zone and the House of Gale." Glitch sat back, a scowl arranging his features. "He's obviously planned for both scenarios."

"If I'm given a choice, I think I'd rather hang." DG shuddered, both at the thought of dying and at the thought of being manipulated into accepting marriage to a man she didn't love for the rest of her days. She remembered the voices in her room, the eyes in the mirror and wondered if maybe there was another way out but decided to keep it to herself. Solution or threat, it was better than they face one crisis before jumping into another. "I'm not marrying him," she added adamantly, looking between her three companions. "There has to be something else we can think of."

If there was, they couldn't put their finger on it. DG felt her shoulder slump, her hopes well and truly dashed. She tried to fake a smile, pushing herself to her feet. 

"You've all had a long day to get here," she said quietly. "I should leave and let you get some sleep."

As she stood, so did they. Glitch was the first to move, wrapping her in a tight hug. Raw moved closer, putting a hand on her shoulder supportively.

"Don't lose hope," the Viewer advised. "Will think of something."

"He's right, DG," Glitch added with an air of confidence that somehow fell flat. "We'll get you out of this, one way or another."

She managed another attempt at a smile as she stepped back, glancing at Cain expectantly. The former Tin Man had been quiet, too quiet, since Raw had mentioned the second way Lord Calletta could gain control of the country but she could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he thought about what had been discussed.

"I'll walk you back to your suite, kid," was all Cain said, his eyes unreadable and his tone leaving no room for protest. 

After wishing Glitch and Raw a good night, DG let herself be led away.

***

They made it all the way to the hallway outside of her suite before seeing anyone else. Even then, they didn't speak a word. Cain stopped as soon as he saw movement up ahead, instinctively reaching out to push DG behind him with one hand while reaching for his pistol with the other. DG opened her mouth to question him but fell silent when she saw what – and who – had caught his attention.

Count Victor Delcor, a known ally of Count Calletta, glanced up and down the hallways just seconds after DG tugged Cain back behind a marble pillar. Seeing no one, the Count visibly relaxed and walked out into the hallway, closing the door of the room he'd been in behind him.

Her room, both DG and Cain saw from their vantage point behind the pillar. 

They waited until they could no longer see or hear Delcor before stepping out from behind the pillar and continuing their journey to DG's suite.

"Another admirer, Princess?" Cain asked in a low voice, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"Not that I'm aware of. He's never spoken to me. He's always too busy following Calletta's orders." She bit down on her lip and stared at the door to her room like it was an unknown entity. "Why was he in my room? How? I always put a locking spell on it when I leave... Only my family, and Tess, my maid, can get through it without permission."

"Maybe you forgot this time," Cain suggested, though he sounded like he didn't believe what he was saying any more than she did. "Can you check to see if it's still active?"

DG nodded, extending a hand out towards the door. Her palm began to glow with her light as her fingertips encountered the spell. She frowned and narrowed her eyes in concentration. "It's still there but it's changed somehow. There's another layer to it, one I don't recognise, woven into my magic." She released her own spell and opened the door. Before she could enter, Cain stopped her with an outstretched arm. "Cain."

"I'll go first," was all he said in response to her exasperated tone. "Stay behind me."

"As if I have a choice," DG muttered just loud enough for him to hear. She obediently waited until he'd walked into the room and motioned that it was safe for her to do so, too, before following suit, not telling him that she used her light to scan the room for any threat or danger before he'd entered it anyway. "See? There's nothing here. Noting out of place, nothing missing..." Even as she spoke, she looked around, proving to herself that her words were true. "I appreciate the concern, Cain, but I'm pretty sure I'm safe for now. Calletta wants to see me hang or, if Raw's right, wants to play the hero and step in at the last minute to save me. He's hardly going to hurt me before he's had the chance to do whatever it is he's planning."

"Can you think of any reason his lackey would be in your rooms, DG?" Cain was, evidently, not satisfied by her assurances. "You don't have anything of value he might want...?"

Even as he asked it, the answer formed in her mind. Hurrying away from him, DG ignored his shout of warning and swing open the double doors to her bedroom. She crossed the room hurriedly, heading in the direction of her bed and dropped to her knees beside it. 

As Cain watched, muttering to himself about Princesses who didn't listen, DG summoned her light and used it to call forth the heavy wooden box hidden by magic underneath the bed. As soon as it was in front of her, she let her palm rest against the lock, waiting for it to click as it disengaged. She lifted the lid, a sigh of relief escaping her when she saw the necklace resting on a bed of cream coloured satin.

The Emerald of the Eclipse was no longer hung in the silver circle the witch had chosen. Instead, the uncut stone hung from a simple chain, glowing with unspent power that called to her own. For a second, the green stone seemed to pulse with a life of its own but the sensation was gone in the blink of an eye.

"You keep one of the O.Z.'s greatest treasures in a box under your bed?"

"Where else would I keep it?" She carefully closed the lid of the box and looked at him over her shoulder. "Az freaks out if it gets anywhere near her but won't say why and my mother just mutters about its uselessness. Something about the prophecy being wrong but she won't explain what she means."

"You might as well bring it with you." Cain spoke up just as she was about to return the box to its hiding place. When she gave him a questioning look, he merely shrugged. "You're not staying in here tonight, DG. Not when we've got no way of knowing what they guy was doing in here."

"Probably looking for the emerald," DG retorted matter-of-factly. "Which he didn't find, so no harm was done." When the former Tin Man said nothing and just continued to stare at her, DG sighed in frustration. "Where do you expect me to go? I'm a little too old to ask if I can sleep in my parent's room and Az probably wouldn't want me in hers."

"You'll sleep in my room." His expression didn't change, even when she gave him an incredulous stare. "I'll take the couch and keep watch."

DG told herself it wasn't disappointment she felt and got to her feet, her hands resting on her hips. "That would be highly inappropriate."

"Since when do you care about that?" He rolled his eyes but held fast to his place in the doorway. "You might want to pack a bag, too, unless you want to get the maids gossiping by wearing the same thing twice."

Realising that arguing would be pointless – and really, why would she want to waste time arguing with one of her best friends when she might have so little time left? – DG moved to her dresser, grumbling under her break for appearances sake. The emerald was the first thing she packed, followed by a night shirt, a set of clean underwear and a light day dress she didn't think she'd seen before. She longed for her Other Side jeans and t-shirt and leather jacket but that outfit was generally frowned upon by most of the palace's inhabitants.

"Right. I'm done." She turned to face him, swallowing a gasp when she realised he was a lot closer than she'd expected. "This really isn't necessary, you know. I'm sure I'd be plenty safe here."

"Humour me," Cain said wryly, reaching to take the bag from her hand.

Deciding she had no choice but to do just that, DG followed him out of her suite, pausing to recast the locking spell on the door before falling into step with her friend and self-appointed bodyguard.

***

It was only after another argument she couldn't win that DG reluctantly took the bed he insisted she use. She would've been content on the couch, knowing she wouldn't sleep much and whatever sleep she did manage to get would be disturbed but Cain simply took up residence on the couch, tipped his fedora over his eyes and wished her a good night.

She settled into the centre of the large bed in the room that had been assigned to him – after grabbing one of the pillows and throwing it in his direction to show her discontent - and closed her eyes. She hadn't been expecting to fall asleep, let alone so quickly, but did and as she slept, she dreamt.

The images appeared too fast, blurring into one another and not making any sense. She turned restlessly, her brow furrowed her breathing rapid, oblivious to the cries she made as the world as she knew it was twisted before her eyes.

The emerald glowing. Green fire burning through the city streets. Zero smirking down at her. Calletta, blood on his hands. Her mother, standing before her people. Delcor. The woman from the mirror. A grey wolf, baring its teeth. An old tree. Cain on his knees, head down, a broken man. A large black cat preparing to pounce. Glitch and Raw running from the flames. Jeb standing in front of her, his expression grief-stricken. Another woman, with glowing green eyes. Azkadellia screaming. A headless body. More headless bodies. A long corridor lined with glass cabinets, cabinets that when she looked closer were full of heads. People screaming. Fire, so much fire. A hangman's noose. The emerald shattering. Another glass cabinet, one she saw herself reaching out to, opening...

... Azkadellia's head cushioned on a blood red pillow, her sister's eyes opening, widening, her lips parting – to scream or shout a warning.

"Hey, it's okay, Deege. It's okay. Come back to me darlin'." 

DG woke with a gasp. Hands tightened on her arms and the face looming above her came slowly into focus. Cain stared down at her, his face pale and blue eyes dark with concern.

The Princess opened her mouth – to say what, she wasn't sure – when a scream from the other side of the palace tore through the night.

"Azkadellia!"

***  
/part three  
***

A small crowd was gathered around the locked doors of the eldest Princess's room. Ahamo and Queen Lavender tried to get through the heavy wooden doors as their oldest daughter continued to cry out from behind them.

"She's locked the door with her magic," Queen Lavender slumped into her husband's arms. "It's no use, my love. My light is too weak."

Ahamo looked up when he heard footsteps hurry toward them. He arched an eyebrow but said nothing at the sight of his youngest daughter scurrying down the hallway with Wyatt Cain at her side from the opposite direction to DG's own rooms in the middle of the night. "Think you can open the door..."

DG released a blast of magic before he could finish the request. The doors to Azkadellia's room swung open with a clang and, taking advantage of the surprise of those around her, DG pushed past the onlookers in search of her sister.

Azkadellia sat in a heap on the floor of her bedroom, her body trembling. She looked up, her eyes wild and fearful in the light of the almost full moon and reached out to her sister.

"DG. Deege." Her sister's name fell from her lips in faltering gasps, her hands fumbling for DG's own. Their combined light glowed between their joint hands and Azkadellia slumped forward, her head resting on DG's shoulder as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I saw... I saw the end, DG. I saw the O.Z. burn and the emerald shatter."

DG closed her eyes against the images still fresh in her mind and shook her head. "It's not going to happen, Az. I promise. I won't let it happen."

***

She left her mother comforting Az and fled to the rooftop garden as soon as she was able. Gulping mouthfuls of air, suddenly struggling to breathe as the images from her nightmare assaulted her mind, DG gripped the railing of the balcony and tried to stay upright.

So much pain, so many lives lost... And she felt it all, every last drop of fear and anguish and anger...

Arms wrapped around her from behind, drawing her back against a solid, warm chest. She felt a slight pressure against the top of her head and found herself being turned as her body was suddenly wracked with sobs.

"Shh. I got you, Princess." He brushed his lips against her forehead before cradling her close, his arms tightening as she pressed her face against his chest. Her hands clutched at him as though she were afraid he'd disappear if she didn't hold fast, grasping fistful of his shirt as she wept against him. "It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay."

"It's not." Her voice was muffled, broken. "It's not okay. I can't... I don't know what to do, Cain. I don't know how to fix everything."

"I know." His voice was steady, the hand moving in circles against her back soothing. "We'll figure it out, Deege. You're not alone anymore. You'll never be alone again. I promise you that."

As his words registered, DG lifted her head from his chest. She stared at him, the silver light of the moon highlighting his features, letting her see clearly the sincerity on his face and a myriad of other emotions she was sure he would have preferred to have been concealed by the shadows. 

"I need you." It was lower than a whisper, barely even a breath. She wanted to look away as she felt her cheeks flood with heat and colour but found herself unable to look anywhere but at him, her Tin Man. Her protector and her... "I..."

"You got me." He moved one of the hands that had come to rest at her waist when she'd taken a small half-step away to her face, calloused fingertips stroking the smooth skin of her cheek. "However you'll have me, I'm yours."

She released the breath she'd been holding in a shaky sigh, the tear still drying on her cheeks as she leaned into his hand. "Wyatt, I..."

His eyes darkened at her use of his given name and he shifted his weight, covering the distance between them. As DG's own eyes began to close, her lips parting, Cain leaned in to close the gap between them...

"Sir Wyatt Cain, I heard you were back." The voice, unwelcome at any time but more so in that moment, had them both stepping back. Lord Mikol Calletta stood in the lighted doorway leading out into the gardens, the sneer on his face visible even in the dim light. "How kind of you to grace us with your presence at this difficult time. Tell me, how are your son and the Queen's Guard faring these days?"

Almost without thinking, Cain moved so that he stood in front of DG, his body tense as his hand moved towards his pistol. "The council gets copied in on their reports to the Queen."

"Of course we do." Calletta's sneer turned into a smirk. He took a step out into the garden and two shadows were quick to fill the doorway behind him. Even in the palace, he was never without at least two members of his personal guard. "I was merely making conversation." The Lord's eyes focused DG and the glint in them had Cain's fingers itching to use his pistol. "Princess DG, I must insist that you come inside. You don't want to make yourself ill by staying outdoors in your night clothes."

Behind Cain, DG released an unladylike snort of derision. "Your concern for my health is duly noted, Lord Calletta. However, as I'm going to be hung in two days on your orders, you'll forgive me for not being convinced it's genuine."

It was the first time he could recall hearing DG sound like her mother, dismissive but also polite to the point of coolness. Cain smothered a proud grin and kept his attention on Calletta, noting the way the Lord's eyes narrowed as he bristled at her response. 

"It is cold out here, DG," Cain murmured in an aside to the Princess, reaching a hand behind him to take hers firmly. Raising his voice for the benefit of their unwelcome audience, the former Tin Man met the Lord's gaze in a silent challenge. "If your men will get out of the way, I'll gladly escort the Princess back to her room."

"You don't need to do that, Mr. Cain." Calletta's smile was cool, his tone smooth. "We wouldn't want you to go out of the way when your own room is in the opposite direction. My guards and I are more than capable of escorting the Princess..."

"I said I'd do it." DG's hand tightened on Cain's even as he spoke. "Unless you don't trust one of the Queen's Guards, Lord Calletta, in which case I believe you should speak to the Prince-Consort. He is still head of the Royal Guard and its Army unless I'm mistaken...?"

"The Prince-Consort is distracted by his concern for his wife and daughters." There was a note of dismissal in Calletta's voice, as though he didn't have much if any faith in Ahamo's ability to do his duty. "I daresay he has allowed his judgement to be swayed by the opinions of those he loves rather than by rationality."

"You should as though you don't believe my father should still hold his position," DG spoke up as Cain reluctantly led her towards the doorway, still blocked by Calletta and his men. "Perhaps you think that's a role that should belong to you as well."

"The responsibility of Troop Commander comes with the position of Prince-Consort." Calletta turned to allow them to pass but reached out to put a hand on DG's arm as Cain ushered her in front of him. "I can assure you, Princess, if I were ever given the opportunity to have such duties, I would excel at them both."

Even as Cain tensed, DG squared her shoulders and held the Lord's determined gaze. "Unfortunately for you, Lord Calletta, that is an opportunity you will never have."

"Perhaps, Princess." Lord Calletta inclined his head and moved out of his way. "Only time will reveal what fate has in store for us all."

DG glared at him but said nothing. She held her head high as Cain led her back into the palace and away from the prying eyes of Calletta and his men. Her shoulders slumped as they approached her room, only to find Azkadellia pacing the hallway, her dark eyes lighting up as they fixed on her sister.

"DG!" The eldest Princess rushed towards them, throwing her arms around DG the instant she was close enough.

Having not been expecting the embrace, DG was sure she would have toppled backwards if not for Cain's steadying presence at her back. "Hey, Az. I thought you'd be sleeping..."

Her sister pulled back to look at her, her eyes wide. "I tried. I tried to sleep but I just kept seeing..." Azkadellia's expression darkened and she shook her head. She took DG's hand and clasped it tightly. The light that flared between their palms had an obviously calming effect on her. "I thought, maybe, if we stayed together..."

The childlike tone and undeniable hope in her eyes was DG's undoing. Biting back a sigh, she nodded at her sister before turning slightly to glance at Cain. There'd be no returning to his room, she knew, no continuing what she thought might have started between them in the garden.

Not, she told herself, that that was a bad thing. It didn't seem fair on either of them, especially Cain, to start something she had no way of seeing through to the end.

If he was upset there would be no follow-through, Cain managed to hide it well. DG thought she saw something flicker in his eyes but it was gone before she could be sure. "I'll see you in the morning." If he'd been wearing his fedora, she was sure he would have tipped it to her. "DG, Princess Azkadellia."

With a heart that ached for something she thought could never be, DG turned back to her sister and forced a smile. "Let's see if we can get some sleep, shall we?"

Azkadellia gave her such a grateful smile, DG couldn't help but feel a surge of warmth for her sister. She led Az to her bedroom and the sister's climbed onto the generous bed, their hands joined throughout. 

"Thank you, DG," Azkadellia murmured tiredly, closing her eyes the moment her head nestled against the pillows. "I know I've not been much help to you but I promise I'll be better."

"Don't worry about it, Az," DG said soothingly, using her free hand to stroke the hair back from her sister's face. "Just get some sleep. I'll keep the nightmares away."

As Azkadellia drifted off into a dreamless slumber, DG resigned herself to a sleepless night.

***

While the eldest Princess was bright-eyed and relatively well-rested at breakfast the following morning, the youngest was noticeably bleary-eyed and quiet in comparison. Queen Lavender not only insisted on having the morning meal with both of her daughters, she insisted that DG's friends join them – and that the council members did not.

It was the first time in a long time DG could remember her mother showing some spine and while she was pleased, she couldn't help but feel it had come a little too late. The council's messenger's had been dispatched that morning, equipped with both a statement confirming DG's involvement in the events leading to the Witch's rise to power and a declaration from the council that she'd faced trial and a sentence had been passed. 

In two days, the people of the O.Z. would watch as the Princess of Light who saved them from the Witch's darkness was executed. Despite the assurances of her friends that the people would protest, DG wasn't convinced. 

There would be many, she thought, who would think that the Queen had saved the wrong daughter when they'd been children and thought the youngest daughter should have been sacrificed so that the eldest could be freed from the Witch's grasp.

The House of Gale no longer commanded the loyalty it once did. The land of the O.Z. was recovering but, for many, it wasn't happening fast enough. The people didn't understand why the Royal Family weren't doing everything they could to aid the land in its revival, unable to know that they were virtual prisoners in their own home, unable to do anything without the agreement of the council.

Even if Lavender's newly discovered courage led to her being able to fend off Lord Calletta's attempts on the throne for a little longer, DG couldn't help but feel it wouldn't be enough to spare her from the fate before her. 

It was too late, the voice at the back of her mind said. Just like the revelation that maybe her feelings for a former Tin Man weren't so ridiculous after all, it was all just too late.

'It is not too late, Lady.'

She sat up straighter in her chair, unwittingly drawing the attention of everyone else sitting around the table.

"What is it, my angel?" Although she managed to keep hold of her composure, there was a telltale shimmer in Lavender's eyes as she gazed at her youngest child. "Are you unwell?"

DG shook her head, her eyes fixed on the table in front of her. Her heart was racing a mile a minute but as no one else seemed to have heard the voices. "I'm fine."

Her mother looked no more convinced than anyone else. "Perhaps Master Raw should take a look at you..."

"I'm okay, Mother." She set down the fork she'd been holding, not that she'd used it since sitting down to breakfast and leaned back in her chair, folding her arms over her stomach. "Other than having a death sentence hanging above my head, I am perfectly okay."

There was an uncomfortable silence following her outburst. DG bit down on her bottom lip, glaring at the table when she felt tears of frustration sting her eyes. She wouldn't cry, she told herself. Tears were pointless; they served no purpose. They...

'Serve and be saved. Only if you live can you fight the darkness that rises.'

"The cryptic riddles really have to stop," DG muttered, lifting a hand to her forehead.

"What riddles, spitfire?" Ahamo cleared his throat and drew her attention. Her father was doing his best to stay calm, DG saw, but panic was beginning to dawn in his eyes. 

'Will you allow them all to die, Lady? That is what will happen if you do not accept your duty.'

"Please tell me someone else can hear that." DG lifted her gaze to look at the faces of everyone gathered around her. She saw concern, confusion and maybe a little fear in their expressions. "Okay, so maybe I'm not exactly okay," she mused, running her fingers through her hair in frustration. "Maybe I might be a little on the crazy side."

"What do you hear, DG?" Glitch tilted his head, curiosity in his voice. "If you could describe it..."

"I hear a voice. Voices," she clarified, glaring at a patch of empty air as though the owner of those voices could see her. Maybe they could, she reasoned. They, whoever they were, seemed to know what she was doing. 

"Is it the first time you've heard them?" Lavender reached across the table for her husband's hand subconsciously. Judging from the way her mother gripped her father's hand so tightly her knuckles turned white, DG realised hearing voices in the O.Z. was probably as bad as she thought it was. "DG, my darling, what do they say?"

'If you accept your duty, they will hear. All will hear. We will awaken and be acknowledged once more.'

"I'd be more inclined to accept my duty if you'd give me real answers and not riddles and clues I don't understand," DG said in a low growl to the invisible owners of the voices. To those she could see, she gave an apologetic smile. "They keep telling me to accept my duty. To serve. Only they won't tell me who they are or what my duty is."

As her parents exchanged alarmed looks, Raw got up from the table. The Viewer moved towards her slowly, coming to a stop behind her chair. He held his arm out to her, asking permission to touch her silently.

"I don't know, Raw." She eyed his outstretched hand warily. The memories of her nightmares were still fresh in her mind and she was sure she didn't want to subject her sensitive friend to the rollercoaster of emotions associated with the images she'd seen. "What if it hurts you? I don't know if I can trust them..."

'You are our Lady. We would not harm you or those who are yours. We cannot. It would serve no purpose.'

"They say they won't harm you or me but..." The Princess shrugged helplessly. "I'm not sure I want to take any chances with your safety, Raw..."

"Raw believe he knows who they are. Has heard stories." The Viewer's hand moved closer. "Raw willing to let voices speak through him if DG will help make connection."

"Let the furball do it, DG." DG's gaze flickered to the Tin Man as he also got to his feet. He made his way around the table to stand on her other side, his expression reassuring. "If they try anything, I'll be ready."

Reluctant to do so but seeing no other choice, DG consented with the slight nod of her head. She took a deep, steeling breath and took the Viewer's hand in hers.

***  
/part four  
***

The Viewer seemed to enter a deep trance the moment his hand touched that of the Princess. Cain tensed and took a step closer to them. He drew his pistol from its holster, his hand steady.

After being silent for several moments, Raw gasped, his eyes opening as he stared unseeingly ahead of him. When he opened his mouth to speak, it wasn't his voice that came out.

"The waning Queen of the O.Z,  
A choice to make has she.  
The gift she gave is hers to take,  
If the child she saved she will forsake.  
Innocent blood, shed in pain and fear,  
Calls to the darkness as it draws near.  
One so dear will pay the cost,  
The Princess of Light soon to be lost.  
Anguish and fear consumes the land,  
Until hope is found and held in hand."

A stunned pause followed the prophecy. Cain committed the words to memory, his heart clenching painfully when the voices spoke about losing a Princess of Light. Though there were two, he knew in his heart that the Princess the line referred to was the one he couldn't bear the thought of losing.

"See what I mean about the cryptic riddles?" DG's strained voice shattered the silence. 

As he looked at her, Cain could see she was visibly struggling to stay calm. His instincts screamed at him to break the connection between herself and raw, to take hold of her and whisk her away, hiding her somewhere no one could hurt her, where no one could take her away from him. A look around the faces of the others in the room told him he wasn't the only one wishing there was something that could be done to spare the Princess her fate.

"If the Princess accepts her duty, she will survive. If she does not, many will die." The voices still spoke through Raw, though their tone had lost the hypnotic rhyming Cain knew was associated with the foretelling of a prophecy. They, whoever they were, were speaking in the present tense now, conversing as normally as they could with the occupants of the parlour. 

"You keep saying that but you won't tell me what my duty would be. I'm not a seer or fortune teller! I don't know what you're asking me to do and I can't agree to something I don't understand!" If she'd been standing, Cain thought she would've stomped her foot. "What exactly is it that you want me to do?"

"Serve. The Lady serves those who serve her, just as a Queen should serve her people."

"Who? The people of the O.Z. aren't going to want more than one leader. I'm not even sure they want the one they have – no offence, Mom." DG ran the hand that wasn't clutching Raw's through her hair again. "Am I the only one having trouble understanding this? Does it make sense to everyone else? Cain? Glitch?"

"Some of it does." There was a faraway look on Glitch's face. "I have a vague memory of reading something once, a long time ago. It was a theory by one of the O.Z.'s greatest historians. He speculated once that there was a second ruler, a woman who served alongside the Queen of the O.Z..." The advisor trailed of thoughtfully.

"Glitch?" Cain prompted after the pause stretched on a little too long.

The man in question blinked, startled to find himself the centre of attention. "What?"

"You were saying something about a second ruler...?"

"I was?" Glitch's confusion was visible, his brow furrowed in consternation. "I'm sorry. I don't remember."

It was DG who took pity on him, giving him an understanding smile as her grip on Raw's hand tightened. "It's okay, Glitch," she told him kindly. "I'm sure if you read it once, we can find it again. The library here is huge – there's got to be some reference..."

"If it relates to the history of the Gale line, it's unlikely it'll still exist." Shame caused Azkadellia's cheeks to colour. "The Witch had everything relating to the Gales destroyed after she came to power."

"Everything?" DG frowned at her sister. "Why would she do that?"

"She wanted to erase the Gale line from history. She hated our family, DG, and everything it stood for." Azkadellia's smile was self-depreciating. "She was furious when she first realised the witch she'd taken over was a Gale. And then she realised it was an opportunity to ensure the bloodline didn't continue, which is why she... Why she killed you."

"The Witch killed me because of the prophecy," DG pointed out, taking care to remind her sister it was the Witch, and not Azkadellia, who had drained the life from her as a child. "'Only one and one alone, shall hold the emerald and take the throne'," she quoted from memory. "That's what she said. When she... When I died, that was the last thing she said to me."

Cain watched Azkadellia look at her mother. When the Queen looked away, Azkadellia scowled, the gesture reminding him of the Sorceress for the first time since the battle of the double eclipse.

"The prophecy... It might not have been as literal as everyone thought, DG. I think the Witch was maybe aware that it was flawed and used it as an excuse to get rid of you." Azkadellia glared at her mother as the Queen remained tight-lipped. "Things didn't happen the way the prophecy said they would."

"Azkadellia, please..." 

"No, Mother. She deserves to know." Azkadellia took a deep breath and expelled it on a heavy sigh. "For once, stop lying to her. We're not children in need of protection anymore."

And when they had been, Cain thought, there'd been a distinct lack of protection when they'd needed it most. Seeing DG's puzzlement – and her dread – he took a step closer.

"What's going on?" DG asked, her voice sounding impossibly small. "What do you mean, Az? Mother?"

"'Only one and one alone'. Only one of us was supposed to survive the battle of the double eclipse, DG." Azkadellia bit her lip but held her sister's gaze. "If you failed to defeat the Witch, I would have lived on as her host. When you defeated her... Either I should have died with her or..."

"You weren't supposed to die. You were the one holding the emerald, therefore you're the heir to the throne," DG interrupted. Her blue eyes narrowed, then widened as her sister's meaning sunk in. "I was supposed to die, wasn't I? Because you lived, because you survived the Witch leaving you... I was supposed to die."

"How?" He hadn't realised the question had come from him until he realised everyone but Raw was looking in his direction. Cain cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the attention. "Sorry for interrupting but I don't understand how or why DG was supposed to die after defeating the Witch."

Azkadellia stared at the Queen expectantly. Lavender looked away, but not before Cain saw the sheen of tears in her eyes.

"When I gave DG my light, I did it to save my child. I thought... I thought Azkadellia was lost to us though I had hoped she would be spared. I didn't realise... I didn't know..." Queen Lavender broke off, a sob choking her.

"Oh." Watching the realisation dawn on DG's face, Cain waited for the younger Princess to share her revelation. "You cast a spell when you gave me your light, didn't you? To save your daughter and bring her back to you... only you weren't specific about which daughter." 

While DG's knowledge and understanding of magic and spells had increased during his enforced absence from her life, Cain was stopped from feeling happy for her – and proud of her – by ashen pallor of her skin.

"I'm still not following," he said eventually when it was clear no one else was going to. "What...?"

"I should have died the night of the double eclipse, Cain." Her eyes were soft, her smile bitter. "When Azkadellia survived, the light my mother gave me should have gone back to her. The Queen and her heir should have survived. That was the intention of my mother's spell. When the emerald chose Az, I became surplus to requirements."

"DG, my angel..." Queen Lavender got to her feet and took a step towards her youngest daughter, the expression on her face imploring. 

"Don't." Steel laced DG's tone. "I am tired of being lied to and I am sick of being treated like a child." She squared her shoulders and turned in her seat, purposely facing away from her mother and towards Raw. "Is that what you meant when you said the Queen could take back the gift she gave? You mean the light she gave me to bring me back as a child?"

"The light you have inside you does not belong," the voices said. "Your own light is waiting for you to claim it, Lady. The gift of the O.Z. and its kin, the gift of your bloodline and your ancestors. Your light was always destined to be strong but it is unable to come to you while you possess that which does not belong."

"How can I claim my light?" DG narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "This isn't some trick to get me to agree...?"

"On the night of the full moon, you must perform the ritual. Summon your light, draw it into you."

"What's the catch?" Cain couldn't keep himself from being suspicious. "If it's that easy..."

Raw, still in the control of the voices, turned to face Cain. His dark eyes, so much older and wiser than Cain knew them to be, stared at the Tin Man intently.

"Tin Man. Friend and father." The beings in charge of Raw's body smiled knowingly. "You are the Lady's Chosen. If the Princess does her duty, you will do yours. Wyatt Cain, Guardian of the Lady of Light."

"More cryptic riddles," DG muttered, though if the rosy coloured blush that had begun to stain her cheeks was any indication she understood the declaration as well as he did. "You didn't answer the question. What's the catch to performing the ritual? Other than, you know, the fact I'll be dead by then. My execution is planned for the first day of the full moon, after all," she reminded everyone unnecessarily.

"Agree to serve and you will live," the voices repeated. "In order to perform the ritual, you must be free of the light that does not belong. You must be released from the spell that binds it to you."

"If she is released, she will die," the Queen argued. Her lavender eyes flashed indignantly. "Without my light sustaining her..."

"We will not let the Lady die," the voices said calmly. "Your daughter will live but you will no longer have a claim on her. Her life will no longer belong to you."

"Who will my life belong to?" DG asked quietly, before her mother could protest again. "If I accept my duty to you, what will become of me?"

"You will serve and be served," the voices repeated. "You will be our Lady, and we will be yours."

"Will she be able to be Queen?" The question came from Azkadellia. The eldest princess's hands trembled, Cain noted, but she clasped them together in an effort to keep it from showing. "If DG accepts the role you have in mind for her, can she still take the throne?"

"If the Lady chooses to rule the people of the O.Z., the Lady may."

"Not if Lord Calletta gets his way." DG got to her feet, careful not to break the connection between herself and Raw. "How long do I have to make this decision? How long until... until it's too late?"

"We cannot save you until you accept your duty. We shall await your decision. " 

A gasp escaped the Viewer as he was released. Raw stumbled, his legs refusing to support his weight. Both DG and Cain moved to support him, easing him down into the chair the Princess had recently vacated.

"Are you okay, Raw? Would you like some water...?" DG crouched beside his chair, gazing up at him with worried eyes. "They didn't hurt you...?"

Raw shook his head, his lips quirked upwards in a sad smile. "Raw not hurt." He patted the hand she'd tentatively laid on his knee, his dark eyes troubled. "DG hurt. Scared. Fears nightmares, fears future. Will not be alone. DG friends, old and new, will protect and serve Princess. Will protect and serve Lady of Light."

***

Her mother refused to listen to her, which came as no real surprise but still caused her no end of frustration. DG couldn't resist slamming the door to her mother's office behind her, throwing an apologetic smile to the startled guards stationed outside.

Well, to two of them. Cain, her self-appointed bodyguard, merely arched an eyebrow and fell into step with her as she started towards the library where she knew her sister, Glitch and Raw were waiting.

"Take it she refused?" Cain asked, striving for a casual tone as they walked. It had been agreed that the details of the conversation in the parlour at breakfast be kept from becoming general knowledge. The Queen was afraid, and Cain agreed, that Lord Calletta might try and use the information to his advantage so those who were in the room had been sworn to secrecy. 

"She won't even consider it!" DG fumed, colour rising in her cheeks as her irritation grew. "I told her it might be our only way out of this – my only way out – but will she listen? No. Because of course my mother knows best. That's why she's lied to me most of my life and still won't let me have any say about my future."

"I can kind of see where she's coming from, Kid." Cain shrugged when she turned her head to glare at him. "I know you're all about trusting people but it's a big risk to take. What if she does it and no one steps in to fill the breech? What if the thing that made the offer is really a trick orchestrated by someone or something that wants you gone?"

Keeping it vague was confusing but DG managed to follow his train of thought. She opened her mouth to argue but closed it again, knowing she couldn't, not when he was only voicing the doubts she herself had had.

"It's a risk," she agreed eventually, her voice soft, "but I think it's one worth taking." She stopped just outside of the library doors, turning to face him fully. "If I don't, I'm dead anyway. At least this way I can go out on my terms, with a glimmer of home that maybe something out there will step in and save me."

"There's another way, DG." Cain glanced up and down the deserted corridor before looking back at her. His cool blue gaze was intense as he focused on her face, taking an unnecessary step closer to be heard as he dropped his voice to a low murmur. "All you need to do is say the word and I'll get you out of here. Your sister, too, if you're worried what'll happen to her. There are places we could go, people who'd be willing to help..."

Her expression softened and she found herself leaning into the hand he lifted to her cheek. "I can't ask you to do that. I can't ask you to give up your life to be constantly on the run, looking over your shoulder every second of every day, shooting at shadows..."

"It'd be my choice, and one I'd gladly make to keep you safe." There was nothing but sincerity in his voice and on his face, and DG knew that all she had to do was ask and he'd do what he was offering. He'd take the risk, face the danger and put his own life on hold indefinitely in order to ensure hers was spared.

For a moment, she was tempted to agree. A future with Wyatt Cain at her side was one she would take willingly – not to mention with pleasure. If she was honest with herself, almost all of the dreams she'd allowed herself to have about an ideal future featured the former Tin Man in a starring role. She'd convinced herself it wasn't possible but here he was, standing before her offering her a chance at the future she really wanted...

...And she had to turn it down. For his sake, as well as her sisters. Azkadellia wasn't cut out for a life on the run and Cain...

"I can't take you away from Jeb, and I won't. Your relationship with him is as precious to me as it is to you and losing him again would hurt you too much for me to consider it." She reached up and took his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together. "If things were different, if you were standing there offering me a future with you for a reason other than to keep me alive... I wouldn't hesitate, Wyatt. I really wouldn't."

He tightened his grip on her hand when she started to move away towards the library doors. When she turned back with a questioning look on her face, Cain lifted his other hand to her face, his fingertips caressing her cheeks.

"I'm not asking just to save your life, DG," he told her quietly, his voice husky. "I'm asking because I can't see a future for myself without you there. I'm asking because you're already in my heart and if I lose you... I think I'll lose myself, too."

Her eyes stung with tears she refused to let fall. Leaning into him, she pulled her hand free from his only to wrap her arms around him, a sigh escaping her when he returned the embrace just as fiercely. She lifted her head, blue eyes meeting blue as they exchanged a silent affirmation, a declaration without words that the feelings between them and the attraction that accompanied them were more than mutual.

"Just think about it," Cain murmured, reluctantly pulling away from her as the realisation that they were standing in the middle of a hallway anyone could walk down sunk in. "That's all I ask."

He moved away from her and opened the door, standing aside so she could enter first. DG took a moment to compose herself, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves before walking into the room.

Her sister, Glitch and Raw looked up as they joined them, the expressions on their faces telling her that whatever they'd managed to find out, it wasn't good.

***

"It's all gone, DG. There's nothing in the history books about a Lady of Light." Azkadellia spoke apologetically, her dark eyes skittering away from her sister's face. There was a smudge of dust on the usually immaculate Princess's cheek, no doubt from one of the many old volumes of text that were piled high on the table around her. "If there was, the Witch must have destroyed it. I can try to remember..."

Knowing that trying to access the Witch's memories would mean exposing herself to the horrors the Witch had put her through, DG shook her head vehemently at her sister's suggestion. "No. You don't need to do that."

"It might be the only way," Azkadellia pointed out. "If I can help you by seeing what she did..."

Crossing the library floor towards her sister, DG reached out to take Azkadellia's hand. "No, Az. I won't let you do that. There has to be another way of finding out what it means to be the Lady of Light and whether the voices can be trusted."

"Voices not lie to DG. Raw would know." The Viewer, still exhausted from his ordeal, sat with his eyes closed in window seat, the light of the two suns shining down on him. "Voices can be trusted. Will save DG if she accepts."

Leaving her sister's side, DG moved towards Raw, who shifted with his eyes still closed to make room for her on the seat beside him. "You said you thought you might know who they were, Raw, that you'd heard stories. I know you're tired but..."

"DG need to know. Raw will tell." There was a short silence, then Raw opened his eyes and took DG's hand. "Voices belong to many, to O.Z. and its kin. Once, long, long ago, kin of O.Z. could talk. As time passed, people stopped listening. Kin forgotten, went to sleep. Waiting to be woken."

"Who are the O.Z.'s kin?" DG glanced away from Raw, relieved to see the others didn't seem to know any more than she did. "One of the voices felt old, really old."

"Kin are many, different species." Raw gave her a small smile. "Raw's people descended from species of kin. Trees are kin. Trees used to talk. DG remembers that."

She did, faintly. She had a vague memory of her childhood, a flashback to a day when she and Azkadellia went picking apples near Finaqua. She couldn't recall the trees talking but she could remember them moving; she remembered taunting them, teasing them, until they seemed to come alive and throw their fruit at her and her sister. 

"I remember the trees being alive," DG said slowly. "I tricked them into giving us apples, do you remember, Az? I don't remember them talking, though."

"Trees were talking but DG not know then how to listen." Raw patted her hand gently. "But trees knew to listen to DG."

"What do you mean?" DG frowned at him. "The trees knew to listen to me? Don't they listen to everyone...? Az?"

Her sister gave her a small smile, shaking her head. "I thought you'd used your magic on the trees, DG. I didn't realise at first that they'd actually heard you and thrown the fruit on purpose. It's been so long since the trees were said to be able to hear and speak that I thought it was your imagination, that it was part of a game."

"Oh." A little disappointed that her sister hadn't believed her, and more than a little disturbed that even as a small child she'd been able to do something no one else could, DG exhaled slowly. "So I was a freak from a young age. Good to know." 

"You're not a freak, little sister." The steel in Azkadellia's voice surprised DG. "You are the strongest, most gifted mage our bloodline has ever seen and that's something you should be proud of, not embarrassed about."

"I'm sorry, Az. It's just..." DG sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Sometimes I wish our family wasn't so special. I'd kind of like to just have a normal life, or as normal as it gets around here. This whole thing still seems so crazy to me at times. I mean, I've got a lot of my memories back but there's still a large part of me that feels like a waitress from Kansas in the middle of the weirdest dream ever."

Azkadellia gave her a sad, sympathetic smile and got to her feet. She moved to her sister and knelt on the floor beside the window seat. "It's not a dream, DG. This is reality. This is who you are. You're destined for a greatness the O.Z. hasn't seen in centuries. The Witch knew that. She was afraid of you from the very beginning. Even when we were children, she knew she would not be strong enough to possess you, not when you came into your powers. She killed you because she knew you could defeat her."

"We defeated her." DG took Azkadellia's hand and smiled at the familiar glow. "We're strongest when we're together."

"As we always will be," Azkadellia agreed softly. "But the voices were right, DG. You will be so much stronger than you realise once you've claimed the light that is rightfully yours."

"I can't claim that light unless Mother releases me from her spell," DG pointed out with a sigh. "And she's adamant that she won't do that. I know she's scared – I am, too – but if she doesn't, the voices won't be able to step in and save me when I face the gallows. If they don't step in..."

She didn't need to finish the sentence; they were all well aware of what would happen if she was left to face the hangman's noose without the magical aid of the O.Z. and its kin.

"Then we have to convince Mother," Azkadellia said simply, squeezing her sister's hand. "Or maybe we can find a way to remove it without her consent. Tutor might know of a way."

DG smiled but it didn't meet her eyes. "He's due to return to the palace this afternoon. We can ask him then."

"And just in case that fails, we'll come up with a Plan B." Cain met DG's gaze above her sister's head. "Jeb and his men should be here before nightfall, Princess. If it comes down to it, the council will have a fight on their hands."

"People of OZ not let DG die," Raw interjected confidently.

Even Glitch chimed in, a smile on his face. "Don't worry about it, Doll. You'll be okay, one way or another."

While she was touched by their determination, DG hated the thought of involving the people of the O.Z. in a fight for her survival. They were still recovering, still healing from the last battle at the Witch's tower. It didn't seem fair or right to her to ask them to risk their safety – their lives – just so she could be saved. A line from the prophecy came back to her as she sat and considered what it would mean for her people, a shudder going through her as she contemplated its meaning.

'Innocent blood, shed in pain and fear,  
Calls to the darkness as it draws near...'

***

Tutor couldn't help reverse the Queen's spell. He'd apologised profusely, promised to talk to Queen Lavender and make her understand that it was DG's only chance but couldn't help them any more than that.

"The act of giving her light to save you created a deep bond between you. The light inside you is yours to command but it still adheres to your mother's will," Tutor had explained gravely. "It is her will to keep you alive, just as it was her will to keep your memories protected from the sorceress and her will for the light to guide you to the emerald."

"So even though it's in my body and I can control it, it still responds to my mother's wishes?" DG had slumped into the sofa in Tutor's suite. "So I can't force it to leave me, even to go back to the person it truly belongs to?"

"You can't use your light to do anything that contradicts your mother's original intention when she cast the spell," Tutor confirmed. "You can make it do anything else but not go against your mother's will."

It didn't make sense to Dg that giving her mother's light back might save her life but she couldn't do it because the light itself thought to do so would kill her. It didn't make sense to her that her mother, who knew better than anyone how magic worked, would be afraid to take a risk and put her trust in the O.Z. itself.

Her father tried to explain it to her, reminding her that her mother had lost not one but both of her daughters once and simply couldn't face the thought of it happening again.

"I understand how she feels, Spitfire." Ahamo walked with her out into the fresh air of the rooftop gardens. "Can't say I'm thrilled about the idea myself."

"If Calletta gets his way, you're going to lose me anyway." DG gave her father a humourless smile. "Isn't it worth the risk? If there's a chance I might be saved by making this deal...?"

"There's a chance your might die, too, DG." Ahamo tightened his grip on her arm as he led her towards the bench he knew to be her favourite. "You told me Mister Cain has his doubts and I'm inclined to agree with him. It's entirely possible this is all some plot to weaken the House of Gale more than it already is."

"How can it be any weaker?" DG burst out. "Mother is weak, and will continue to be so until she takes back her light. Az is getting better but she's not strong enough to take over as Queen, not until she's truly accepted by the people. If I do die, Calletta will incite war and forcefully take the throne. Or maybe he'll just convince the council he's perfect husband material for Azkadellia and take it that way." Turning to her father, DG clutched his hand in hers. "You know he's behind all of this, Daddy. You know he's going to take the throne and end our line one way or another. Even if mother take back her light condemns me to death... She'd be strong again. Strong enough to lead our people and keep the throne."

"Spitfire..." Ahamo shook his head and broke eye contact, staring out over the city. "When your mother and I agreed to send you to the Other Side... It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make. We'd already lost you once and the thought of losing you again, of choosing to do so... It's not something I can do again. The years of self-doubt, of wondering where you were and if you were okay... I know you think the hardest part of those years for your mother and I was being apart but the worst was not knowing whether the decision we made was right for you."

"It was. It was the right decision." It was a bitter pill to swallow, agreeing that her parents had done what was best. 

Their decision head meant that most of her life had been a lie and that her beloved sister had been forced to endure the Witch's possession for so many annuals but DG knew in her heart they couldn't have done anything else and saved both of their daughters. 

Ahamo, however, didn't look so convinced. "If we'd realised... If your mother had been certain of the Witch's possession before she killed you..." The Consort sighed heavily. "Ifs and maybes don't help anyone but I still can't stop myself from wondering..."

"Don't, Dad." DG's voice was soft, sad. "It doesn't help anyone, like you said. And it doesn't change the fact that we need to make another difficult decision. Or, really, you need to convince Mom that she needs to make the right choice."

Ahamo shook his head, his jaw clenched. "I wish I could be so certain, DG. I wish I could believe that making the decision to rob you of your mother's gift is right."

"I believe it." She held his gaze, her eyes round with a confidence she didn't one hundred per cent feel. "It's the only choice that benefits the O.Z. and the House of Gale. Mother's light will be restored. The throne will be safe. Whether I live or die is of little consequence."

Her father glanced at her sharply, his shoulders tense. "It's of consequence to your mother and I, to your sister and your friends..."

DG's smile was sad, her tone bitter. "None of which will matter if the Gale line falls and everyone I love is subject to the whim of an upstart noble who thinks he has what it takes to rule the realm. I'd rather die and know you're all safe than face the gallows or, if Raw's theory is right, face a forced marriage and a future where I'm powerless and can't make a difference."

Ahamo's hand tightened on hers to the point of pain. "What if your mother releases you and something dark replaces her claim, DG? What if you become the enemy? Or what if being the Lady of Light means you can't still be a part of this family? I don't think I could bear it, Spitfire, knowing you're out there but no longer my little girl."

"Ifs and maybes don't help," DG reminded him quietly. "But on the off chance I do end up the enemy, Azkadellia and Mother should be able to stop me if they combined their light and used the magic of the emerald."

"And if being the Lady of Light means you won't be able to see us? That you won't be part of our family?"

The thought made her heart clench but DG forced the pain aside. Technically, she'd only been part of the Royal Family again for a few months after her return to the O.Z. It shouldn't hurt as much as it did to think of herself no longer being part of it. "The voices – the O.Z. and its kin, according to Raw – said I could still take the throne if I wanted. I took that to mean I'd still be a Gale, no matter what else being the Lady entails."

Her father nodded slowly, not entirely convinced but willing to be swayed by her words. "I'll talk to your mother," he told her grudgingly. "I can't promise she'll change her mind but I'll talk to her."

"Thank you, Daddy." Pulling her hand free so she could hug him instead, DG lingered in her father's embrace, wondering if it might be the last one they shared.

***

He'd sent a letter to his son, asking him to keep his men outside of Central City until they knew what their next move would be. On the morning of the day before DG's execution, on what might be her last full day alive in the O.Z., Cain received word that Jeb was waiting for him just outside of the city walls.

While reluctant to leave DG, the Princess had reassured him she would be fine without him for a few hours. He knew she was planning to spend some time with Glitch and Raw and had a sinking suspicion her plan was to say goodbye to her friends, having convinced herself that unless the Queen changed her mind, all hope was lost.

Cain refused to give up so easily. He wouldn't let the Princess hang, couldn't let her hang. He hadn't lied to her when he'd told her he couldn't see a future for himself without her in it. DG had become important to him, vital even. She just didn't realise how vital, and Cain was determined to correct that as soon as he could.

He didn't think she realised how valued she was by the people of the O.Z., either. As he left the palace grounds, he braced himself for the reaction of the masses. Word had spread to all four corners of the O.Z. as to what role DG had played in releasing the evil Witch, just as everyone would know she'd been found guilty by the council and sentenced to hang. He knew she was worried that the people would blame her and wondered if she was truly prepared for their reaction to the announcements.

Even he, having been cautiously optimistic about what to expect, was surprised as he left the sanctity of the royal home.

Just over twenty-four hours remained before the execution and already the streets were beginning to swell with people from Central City and beyond. They spanned every age group, every class and walk of life, and all had at least one thing in common: they were dressed in dark green, the official colour of mourning for the O.Z. Some held banners and signs in protest of the hanging scheduled to take places, others held candles lit to signify their prayers for the Princess and her family.

As Cain walked through the streets towards the gates leading out of the city, he saw more and more people flooding in, most of whom looked like they'd been travelling ever since the messengers had reached their towns and villages. Whole families swarmed into the city, their steps weary and their expressions a combination of anger and grief Cain related to wholeheartedly. He saw dozens of Tin Men standing guard over the crowd just in case the peaceful mood turned violent but even the lawmen of the O.Z. wore a dark strip of green silk across their tin badges in a display of respect and admiration towards the Princess they would soon be losing.

The atmosphere changed as he walked through the city, purposefully heading passed the gallows to see what kind of crowd had gathered there. The skin on the back of his neck prickled as he walked through the people gathered there and his fingers twitched instinctively towards his pistol. These people weren't just distraught as those he passed nearer the palace; these people were angry. Peace was being maintained but Cain knew it was being done so by a tenuous thread; it wouldn't take much to ignite the rage he could sense brewing within them.

He worried for a moment that the underlying fury might be aimed at DG herself for her actions as a child but his concerns were soothed over as he walked through the crowd and listened to the murmured conversations around him.

"Damn council. Think they own the place."

"Seems like they do. The Queen ain't stopping them."

"Someone should. Someone should step in."

"And save the Princess?"

"'Least we could do. Princess DG saved us from the Sorceress. Saved her sister, too."

"Princess DG released the Witch to begin with."  
"She was a kid at the time. Usin' that as an excuse to justify this means we should start hangin' every kid at four and five when they do somethin' wrong. It ain't right, I tell ya. It ain't right at all."

It wasn't, Cain agreed. His hands clenched into fists as he continued towards the gates. Someone did need to step in and save the Princess, and he was more than willing to volunteer for the job.

/part 6  
***

 

The Queen's Guard as well as the other men and women they'd recruited along the way, mostly former resistance fighters who'd chosen to turn down an official post in the newly reformed Army, were camped out on the edge of the forest on the outskirts of Central City. Jeb was first to greet his father, embracing him warmly.

"We have over one hundred men and women," Jeb announced, the pride in his voice audible. "Every one of them is willing to fight to save the Princess if it comes down to it."

Cain clasped his son's arm as they parted. "That's good to know. There's already a crowd gathering in the city. I'm sure those nearest to the gallows would be willing to help if needs be."

"How are things at the palace?" Jeb's sharp gaze searched his father's face. 

"Complicated," Cain answered with a sigh. He motioned to the tents with a jerk of his head. "Is there somewhere we can talk in private?"

"Sure. This way." Jeb led him into one of the smaller tents near the edge of the camp. He took a seat on the small cot alongside one wall of the tent and arched an eyebrow as his father paced in front of him. "What's going on?"

Cain took his fedora off with one hand, and ran the other through his hair. He paced as he explained about Calletta's control of the council and Raw's theory that the execution was being staged so the noble could swoop in at the last moment to save the Princess, thus winning the hearts and loyalty of the people. He paced as he told his son about the voices DG had heard, about the prophecy that had been delivered through the Viewer and the warning that DG could only be saved by agreeing to be the mysterious Lady of Light. He continued to pace as he recounted the Queen's steely determination that she would not release DG from her spell and risk losing her daughter prematurely. He stopped pacing when he told Jeb he'd offered the Princess a chance at freedom, faltering when his son asked him what DG's answer had been.

"She's scared for Azkadellia," Cain said eventually, avoiding Jeb's gaze. "If DG goes to ground, AZ could be punished by execution or a forced marriage."

"Arrangements could be made for Princess Azkadellia, too," Jeb offered thoughtfully. "Though that would leave the Queen without an heir and the future of the throne uncertain." When his father didn't respond and merely started pacing again, Jeb got to his feet and moved decisively into his father's path. "Father? What is it?"

For a long moment, Cain didn't speak. He didn't look at his son, either, focusing instead on his hat as he turned it in his hands, fingers clutching at the wide brim.

"If there's something else my men and I should be aware of...?" Jeb prompted after a while. "I know you're worried about Princess DG, Father, but I won't ask anyone to risk their lives unless I know exactly what I'm sending them into."

A glimmer of pride entered Cain's eyes at his son's assertion, something Jeb got a glimpse of when his father finally looked up. "It's nothing like that, Son. It's... It's a private matter."

Jeb's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Go on."

"I asked DG to come away with me." Cain shifted uncomfortably under his son's gaze.

"I know that. If she'd said yes, we'd be here to help her escape. If she said no, we'd be here to protest her execution. That was the plan, wasn't it?" Under any other circumstances, Cain might have found Jeb's confusion amusing. As it was, the elder Cain was too nervous to find amusement in anything. "Dad...?"

Cain held his son's gaze for a tense moment before looking away. He turned and paced away from Jeb, turning to face his son once he'd walked as far as the tent walls would allow. "I'm in love with DG," he blurted out, dragging his hand through his hair.

Jeb was silent. He watched his father wring his hat between his hands before he jammed it on his head, pulling down the rim to shadow his eyes. Eyes Jeb could feel watching him as he slowly walked back to the cot and sat down.

Exhaling slowly, Jeb looked down at his hands. "I don't know how you want me to react," he responded after a while, lifting his gaze to his father's. "Do you want my anger or my blessing?"

"I don't know." Cain resumed his earlier pacing. "I don't know how I feel about it, let alone how I expect you to react," he admitted with a frustrated sigh. 

There was another awkward silence between father and son, broken again by Jeb as he watched from his place on the cot as his father moved restlessly around the small enclosed space. "Mother would be glad," Jeb said softly. He met his father's surprised stare with a half-smile and one-shouldered shrug. "She wouldn't want you to be alone for the rest of your life. She... She wasn't. Mother had a relationship with a man in the resistance. He'd asked her to marry him only weeks before he was killed in a Longcoat ambush. A month later, Zero came for us, too."

Cain stood still, processing the information. The pang of betrayal he'd been expecting – that Jeb was obviously expecting – didn't come. Instead, he felt both relief and sadness. Relief that his beloved Adora had found happiness again in a time of danger and darkness; sadness that it, too, had been taken from her.

Just as DG and the second chance he thought he'd found in her could be taken from him.

"I'm glad she was happy." He meant it, too. "Were you? Happy, I mean?"

Jeb blinked at him, taken aback by the question. "He wasn't my father. He was a good man but he could never be my father. He knew it and didn't try to be so we got along okay. He was a good man," Jeb repeated. "He didn't deserve to die but then no one in the resistance did."

Cain nodded at his son's words, finding a great deal of comfort in them. It was one thing to know his wife had found love again, another to be replaced in his son's affections. "So you're not upset about DG? You don't think I'm betraying your mother's memory?"

"Mother was lost to you annuals ago, and I truly believe she would want you to be happy," Jeb answered confidently. "If Princess DG can do that, Mother would approve of her. As do I," he added, although he didn't sound quite so certain. "I mean, I've got nothing against her. She's maybe a little younger than I envisioned by future step-mother, and she's a Princess, which I never would've expected but... She'll take care of you, if you let her." He glanced expectantly at Cain. "I presume she feels the same way?"

Cain's eyebrow shot up. "Why would you say that?"

"I wouldn't expect you to have told me if she didn't." Warming to the subject, Jeb gave his father a cheeky grin. "You did tell her how you feel...?"

"Yes. No. I don't..." Frustrated, bewildered and more than a little flustered, Cain released a low growl. "It was implied," he settled for saying. "I told you because I want you to promise me you'll look out for her. I think we're going to have to fight our way out of this one and if anything should happen to me... DG is important. She's needed here. If the O.Z. is to survive, DG has to live."

Jeb stared at his father for a long moment. "I'd say you're just as important, Father," he murmured as he stood. "And I'm certain the Princess would agree with me."

Covering the distance between them, Cain took his son by the shoulders, the glint in his blue eyes intense. "Promise me, Jeb. The people won't yet accept Azkadellia on the throne and the Queen is weak without her light. DG is essential to the House of Gale keeping control of the realm. If it falls, the O.Z. as we know it will fall, too."

Jeb gave his father a solemn nod, the air between them serious once more. "Then we have to make sure that doesn't happen," he said simply. "My men will be ready, Father. You can count on us."

***

Her life was on a countdown and she was silently marking off each hour that passed with a sense of foreboding she couldn't shake. DG watched Cain leave the palace grounds on foot from the window of her suite before heading to her sister's room for some rare quality time.

Azkadellia greeted her with warmth and sadness in equal measures, wrapping her in a tight embrace that would have been smothering had the contact not been so welcome.

"I dreamt about you last night," Azkadellia told her as she pulled back. She held DG's hand and led her to the private balcony just off her bedroom. "You were in Finaqua, sitting on the swing in the gazebo."

"As a child?" DG smiled at the image, wishing they'd had a chance to return to the palace in the South before everything had descended into chaos. Her memories of her childhood there were still her favourite, not counting that fateful day when she'd heard the evil Witch's cries. "I remember spending a lot of time sitting there with a book, waiting for you to finish your lessons with Tutor."

"You weren't a child." Az smiled even though her eyes shone with moisture. "You were as old as you are now and you looked so apprehensive at first... Then you must have seen something because you reached out and smiled the most beautiful smile..." Her sister's voice trailed off and she looked away, blinking back tears. "I woke up smiling, then realised it was just a dream because... because..."

DG tightened her grip on her sister's hand and swallowed the lump that rose unbidden in her throat. "It sounds like a nice dream," she said quietly, "and a lovely way to remember me. I'd rather you think of me sitting in the gazebo than... You know."

The words 'hanging from a noose on the gallows in the city' went unsaid. Neither sister needed it acknowledged aloud.

"If there was a way I could stop it, I would." Az's dark gaze shifted from the window to lock onto DG's blue eyes. "I'd even try and scare them into letting you go, try and fool them into thinking the Witch was back if I thought it would work."

Knowing to do so would be damaging for her sister – and a pointless exercise, really, as almost everyone in the O.Z. would have seen the recording of the Witch's defeat thanks to Calletta's messengers – DG could only squeeze Azkadellia's hand again to show her gratitude. "There's only one way to save me now, Az, and even that's not guaranteed."

Azkadellia shook her head, her expression as solemn as her voice was soft. "There is another way, DG. I know Mister Cain well enough to be certain he's given you another option."

"He might have." DG felt her cheeks flood with heat just thinking about the conversation she and Cain had had in the hallway outside of the library. A conversation that had played over and over in her mind all night, each time with a different ending – some of which were pleasant and others.... others which were not, and only served to remind her of the danger they all faced just by discussing her fate inside of the palace walls. "It's irrelevant, really. I won't... It's too risky, for everyone involved."

"He'd do anything for you," Azkadellia interrupted with an arched eyebrow. "If there's anyone in the O.Z. who can keep you safe, I'm certain it's Wyatt Cain."

"That's not what I meant. I trust Cain completely. I know he'd do anything and everything to keep me alive but at what cost, Az? Someone would have to suffer the consequences and that's not something I could live with." DG bit down on her bottom lip. "It's an option I've been given but not one I can consider."

"I think you should." Her sister's expression was calm. "All I want for you is to be happy and alive. That's all anyone who loves you would want. If your doubts have anything to do with me, I'm ordering you now as your big sister to let them go. You have my blessing, Deege, not that you really need it. Your Tin Man is a good man, a loyal man. In fact, if I'm not mistaken..." A glint that could only be described as mischievous appeared in Azkadellia's eyes. "The O.Z. and it's kin identified him as being your chosen..."

The blush that had been fading returned full-force. "They said he would be the 'Lady's Chosen'. Her guardian. I'm not the lady."

"Lady of Light or not, I can see how you feel about him and that it's mutual." Az released an unladylike snort that would have made their mother wince. "Why deny yourself someone you both want, little sister? Why deny yourself a future you can be content with?" As DG remained silent, Azkadellia turned her sister's hand over in hers, her fingertips tracing an invisible line across DG's palm. "Who knows? If you take the risk, maybe my dream won't just be a dream. Maybe one day it will be reality."

Unwilling to dash the hope in Azkadellia's voice, DG could only give her sister a vague nod and change the subject. They spent the rest of the morning talking about the past, reminiscing about the happier aspects of their childhood before it was blighted by the Witch's presence. They spoke about the worst moments, too, about Az's possession and DG's death. There were tears and apologies on both sides and by early afternoon, both sisters were exhausted but felt cleansed of the demons that had been haunting them.

Her mind was still whirling as she joined Raw and Glitch in the gardens on the palace roof but DG managed to greet both of them with heartfelt smiles and warm embraces.

At first, the trio made an attempt at hiding their apprehension and sorrow behind happy masks, making small talk about inconsequential things to avoid talking about the subject they were all thinking about but that no one wanted to be the first to bring up. They talked about Glitch's new home and the three small explosions he'd managed to cause when experimenting in the kitchen. His housekeeper had thrown him out eventually, telling him to build himself a lab if he needed one but to stop causing her oven to overheat.

His housekeeper, an elderly woman who'd taken him under her wing in place of the child she'd never had, was someone Glitch seemed fond of – as well as a little scared. DG was pleased her friend had someone take care of him but wished she could have the opportunity to meet the woman who'd stepped into the breach as a mother figure for her sometimes childlike friend.

As Glitch ran out of stories, DG turned to Raw and asked about Kalm. The Viewer was only too happy to distract her for a while with news of the young cub he'd taken on as his own. They'd found a small settlement of Viewers who had managed to evade the Witch's grasp. Although at first wary of the newcomers, the Viewer pride had eventually welcomed them both and Kalm had been content to stay behind and learn from an elder Viewer while his guardian returned to Central City at the Consort's request.

"I wish I could meet the others," DG said wistfully after Raw had finished describing them to her. "I'm so pleased you and Kalm found them, Raw. And that you have somewhere you can call home."

Both of them would be looked after. That was at least one thing she could content herself with. Raw would have his people and Glitch, once expelled from the Royal household again, would have someone to keep an eye on him and make sure he remembered to eat between various inventions.

Her mind wandered to the absent member of their group, the third man who'd become her family during her first days back in the O.Z., and her heart clenched painfully.

He'd have Jeb, she told herself firmly as tears sprang to her eyes. He'd have his son and their friends – Raw and Glitch would look out for him, just as surely as he'd look out for them. 

"Not be alone," Raw assured her, his dark eyes sad. "Friends be there for Tin Man."

"Thanks, Raw." She blinked furiously, embarrassed at exposing her emotions to her sensitive friend. "I know you'll all look after each. I know you'll be safe..."

"As safe as anyone will be." It was Glitch who spoke but DG suspected the bitterness and scepticism in his voice belonged to Ambrose. "This shouldn't be happening, Princess. It's not right."

She couldn't disagree with him so settled for putting a hand on his arm in gesture meant to comfort. "A lot of things happen that shouldn't, Glitch. You just have to get through it and hope something good will come out of it somewhere along the line."

"Can't see what good could come from you dying, Doll." The glum reply was all Glitch. "Even if the people revolt against Calletta and the council, you'll still be gone. You'll still be gone. You'll still be..."

Raw knocked Glitch's arm, correcting the former headcase's misfiring synapses. The Viewer gave him a reproachful look before turning his all-too-knowing gaze onto the Princess. 

"Feel urge to run. Tempted by Tin Man's offer." As DG stilled, her pale cheeks blossoming with colour, Raw studied her intently. "DG not disappoint by leaving. Friends and people understand. Support decision. Agree."

"We could come with you. Or meet you somewhere along the old road." Glitch met her surprised stare with a shrug. "We know Cain, too, Deege. And the way you're not denying it is telling..."

"It would only be delaying the inevitable," DG said after a long pause. "I'd have to come back someday."

"Why?" Glitch looked at her curiously. "What would you have to come back for?"

"Azkadellia, for starters." DG bit her lip, surprised at both the question – and the lack of answers she could think of it to give for it. "She wouldn't come with me, not yet. Maybe in an annual or two..."

"I could stay with her," Glitch volunteered, reminding her that once, a lifetime ago, the Queen's former advisor and the eldest Princess had almost been friends. "Wait till she's ready, then bring her to meet you and Cain somewhere. She'd be able to use her light to keep in touch with you and vice-versa."

"Raw would help," the Viewer chimed in. "Could help keep connection between Princesses strong."

DG appeared thoughtful for a moment, and then shook her head. "My parents, my people... I couldn't abandon them..."

"You'd be alive, giving them hope." Her friends stared at her solemnly. "You won't be letting anyone down."

Their words stuck with her through the evening meal she shared with her sister and parents. They stayed with her as she paced the floor of her room, waiting anxiously for word that Cain had returned from his visit with Jeb. 

They were at the forefront of her mind when the doors to her suite opened and the former Tin Man walked in.

Cain barely had time to close the door behind him and turn back to face her before he found himself with an armful of Princess, her face pressed against his chest, her words muffled as she clung to him.

"I'll go with you," DG mumbled, her eyes sliding shut as she felt his arms wrap around her. "If you're sure it's what you want, I'll run away with you."

***  
/part seven

His heart was pounding in his chest, so loudly he wouldn't be surprised if she could still hear it even after he'd reluctantly pulled away and ushered her onto the loveseat in front of the fire. Kneeling at her feet, Cain took DG's hands in his, studying her intently as she in return gazed at him through big blue eyes.

"Why the change of heart?" He asked eventually, willing his voice not to give away the myriad emotions coursing through him. "You said you wouldn't..."

"I said I couldn't," she corrected him quietly, her eyes luminous. "But I spoke to Az and Glitch and Raw and I want to be selfish, Cain. I want to give myself the best chance at having the future I dreamed about. A future with you, whether it's here or somewhere far away, I don't care."

Though her words had his blood heating, Cain couldn't let himself believe she meant what he hoped she did, not without making sure. "You mean you want to live... You want to escape the gallows so you'll take the chance..."

She pried one of her hands away from his, lifting it to his cheek. Her fingertips lightly brushed his skin and she gave him a beautiful yet uncertain smile. "I want to live but only if it's with you. I won't let you risk your life by helping me unless I'm sure we're on the same page, Wyatt. I love you. I think I've loved you since before the eclipse, certainly since it happened." Her eyes shone but remained locked on his. "If you want to be with me, not out of duty or some sense of loyalty to the crown... If you really want to be with me..."

As she spoke, a tear escaped her eye and slid down her cheek. Lifting a hand he couldn't keep steady, Cain caught it with his thumb, tenderly wiping the drop of moisture away

"I was wrong when I told you you were in my heart." He cupped her cheek to keep her from looking away, needing to know he understood him, that there were no misunderstandings. "You are my heart, DG. Without you, I got nothing. I'd be just as much of a shell as the iron suit you found me in. If you're being selfish by letting me take you away from here, I'm being selfish for offering in the first place."

"Then let's be selfish." She leaned into his palm, her smile sweet. "Let's just go away and not look back."

His mind was a whirl with plans and timings. If they left now, they could be gone before dawn. The problem was that Calletta would have no doubt upped security for the night, partly due to the mood of the people waiting outside of the palace walls and partly due to the knowledge that if DG was going to escape, it would have to be soon. 

Shift change was just before the rising of the first sun, and it was then that the Lord's security would be at its weakest. The guards leaving their posts would be tired but would need to do a proper handover so would be focused on that. Those coming to their posts would need to be briefed on any and all activity that had taken place.

It was then they would leave, Cain decided. They'd have time to pack and maybe get some sleep before they left the supposed safety of the royal dwelling...

"Wyatt?" DG's voice was soft, her cheeks lightly flushed. She had moved her arms during his musings, her hands resting lightly on his shoulders. It was then he realised that his arms had, at some point, slid around her slender waist to hold her securely against him. The gesture had been done without conscious thought, and all he could do was think of how right it felt to hold her so close.

"Yeah, kid?" He tightened his arms for a moment, just because he could. Savouring the warmth of her, the feel of her, the way the soft curves of her body seemed to fit perfectly against the harder planes of his own. 

"Don't call me kid," DG protected immediately, her brow furrowing even as her blush deepened. "It makes doing this harder."

It was his turn to frown. "Doing what?"

"This." Before he could stop her – not that he would – DG rose slightly onto her toes, covered the distance between them and pressed her lips against his.

Once, twice.

On the third pass, Cain unfroze from the stupor he'd found himself in. He pressed one hand against the small of her back to keep her against him, the other ran up her spine to tangle in the mass of dark curls at the back of her head, gently holding her in place as he tilted his head and took control of the kiss. As he deepened it, DG melted against him with a small sound that was half sigh of relief, half moan of contentment. One of her hands clutched at his shoulder while the other moved to the back of his neck, her fingers raking lightly over the short hair there.

She returned his kisses with equal fervour, pressing herself against him as the intensity between them grew but Cain still found himself holding back, sensing an uncertainty in her, an almost shy quality he somehow hadn't been expecting. When his hand slid from her back to caress the gentle curves he felt underneath her dress, DG tensed momentarily, relaxing only when his hand stilled.

With a great deal of reluctance and showing an equal amount of restraint, he pulled away and studied her through hooded eyes. Her cheeks were still flushed, her eyes dazed and her lips slightly swollen. She swayed a little towards him and would have ducked her head to hide her expression if not for him moving his hand from her waist to keep her face tilted upwards.

"Have you done this before, Deege?" His voice sounded hoarse even to his own ears, and he shifted his body slightly away from hers to look at her.

DG blushed under his scrutiny but held his gaze, arching an eyebrow. "I've made out with a guy before, yes." She rolled her eyes at what he guessed was the confused expression on his face. "I've done... things... but haven't... followed through... completely."

Her embarrassment was tinged with an edge of defiance, the glint in her eye almost challenging him to do something. She was expecting him to laugh at her or tease her or push her away, Cain thought, his eyes narrowing.

He wasn't sure why but he'd always assumed DG would be more experienced. Not that he thought she was loose with her affections but the youngest Princess had lived on the Other Side for most of her life and sometimes seemed all the more wise and worldly because of it. In other respects, though, she seemed naive, almost innocent, and it filled him with a heady sort of masculine pride that she was still innocent in ways of romance – and that she'd chosen him to be the one she shared that part of herself with.

For the first time and every time after, he decided possessively.

There would be no one else for him after they took the final step in changing their relationship and he was sure DG felt the same way. Once the Princess gave her loyalty, it was forever and he knew instinctively the same could be said of her heart. She wore her heart on her sleeve and cared about so many but it was only the very lucky she'd let herself truly love.

Losing her nurture units, the parents she'd spent most of her life loving, had made sure of that.

"We don't need to rush this." His cool gaze searched her face. "We've got the rest of our lives, DG. If you'd prefer to wait and take this slow..."

She shook her head, her hands fisting in the material of his shirt. "No. No waiting. We don't know what's around the next corner. We don't know for sure what's going to happen tomorrow." He watched her throat move as she swallowed. "I know what I want, Wyatt, and that's you. Us. You only get to make this choice once and I choose you. Please. Who knows when we'll next be somewhere we can be warm and safe without having to look over our shoulders every single second?"

It was all he needed to hear – everything he needed to hear. He closed the gap between them and claimed her lips in a searing kiss, one that successfully distracted them from worries of what the future held.

***

A low sound escaped him, almost a growl, before he grabbed her and kissed her with enough passion to rob her of her breath as well as her ability to speak. The squeal she released when he swung her up into his arms and started carrying her towards the open door of her bedroom was muffled by his mouth as it thoroughly explored her own.

Her body felt hot all over but she still shivered when he released her, the intent look on his face coupled with the anticipation building up inside creating a mass of swirling emotions in the pit of her stomach.

DG found herself thinking it was a good thing Raw's room wasn't anywhere near hers, only to lose track of that line of thought when Cain lowered her to the bed. His lips left hers as he left a trail of blazing, biting kisses along the line of her throat, a gasp escaping her when he moved to first bite, then suck on an earlobe. She clutched blindly at his shirt, at his hair, at any part of him he could reach while he continued his slow exploration of her body through the thin material of her dress.

She murmured his name when he moved away long enough to let her sit up. Her concerns that maybe he'd had second thoughts were dismissed when he kissed her again and she felt his nimble fingers get to work at the fastening at the back of her dress. Deciding it was a good idea, DG moved her hands between them, her trembling hands tackling the buttons of his shirt.

His hands left her long enough to allow her to slip the shirt from his shoulders before returning to their task of ridding her of her dress. DG allowed herself a mischievous smirk, wondering if and how she could distract him from his task.

She didn't get to put the ideas forming in her mind into practise.

As she lifted her face back up to his, smiling even as he lowered his head to kiss her tenderly, the doors to her suite flew open, a loud bang echoing throughout the room as they hit the wall.

Cain released her instantly, springing to his feet and moving to stand in front of her.

Calletta waltzed into the room, an eyebrow arched as he took in the sight that awaited him but the smug smirk on his face never once faded as two of his men followed him into the room, followed quickly by three guards DG recognised. The three men wouldn't or couldn't look at her, their expressions downcast.

"What in Glinda's name are you doing?" Cain's voice was a low rumble, dangerously calm.

"You can't just barge in here!" DG protested, checking quickly to make sure she was decent before getting off the bed to stand at Cain's side. "You don't rule yet, Calletta!"

The Lord ignored her, focusing instead of the former Tin Man. "Wyatt Cain, you are under arrest. Guards, take him to his cell."

"What? What for?" Even as the guards reluctantly moved forward, DG tried to stop them. Cain grabbed her arm before she could move any closer to Calletta, the slight shake of his head warning her against showing rage to the man who held her fate in his hands. "You can't arrest someone for no good reason!"

"There is a reason, Princess. Sir Cain is being arrested for plotting to commit treason against the crown and the council." Calletta's gaze shifted momentarily to DG before settling once again on Cain. "And he can't deny it, either. He was overheard yesterday discussing plans to kidnap you, Your Highness. To force you out of the palace against your will."

Cain's shoulders tensed but he held his tongue, glaring at the noble. The only conversation he'd had in the palace that could have been overheard was the one he'd had with DG outside of the library and he was sure Lord Calletta somehow knew that.

"It's not kidnapping if the victim is willing!" DG retorted, struggling to free her arm of Cain's grasp. She turned to face him when he remained silent, fixing him with a glare almost as fierce as the one she'd been aiming at Lord Calletta. "Aren't you going to say something? Try to shoot your way out of here? Wyatt...?"

"Anything I do will make it worse for you," was all he said, his voice quiet, his eyes locking onto hers. "Send word to Jeb. Tell him... Tell him to keep his promise."

"Cain..." Shocked tears sprung into her eyes as two of the guards reluctantly took his arms. "You haven't done anything wrong..." She looked at Calletta, blinking furiously as her Tin Man was led away from her. "He hasn't done anything wrong!"

The Lord smiled at her, mirth shining in his eyes. "Then he has no reason to fear a trial, does he, Princess? My apologies for disturbing your evening."

Calletta spun on his heel and followed the guards out of the room. DG stared after them, stunned, the ache in her chest growing with every second that passed.

***

He waited until the Princess stormed out of the office, silent tears staining her pale cheeks. He glanced up and down the hallway to make sure it was clear before slipping out from behind the marble column he'd been waiting behind and crossing the hallway to the closed double doors in front of him.

He didn't knock.

Queen Lavender remained seated behind the imposing desk in the centre of the room, an eyebrow arched at his arrival. "You took care to ensure you weren't seen, I presume?"

"Of course, Your Majesty." Lord Calletta smirked at her as he closed the doors behind him before sauntering over to the desk. He sat in the seat facing her, lightly gripping the arm rests with his hands. "I take it the little Princess begged you to free her would-be lover?"

"Of course." The Queen's face remained expressionless. "Did I not instruct you to arrest him when he returned to the palace?"

Some of the cockiness faded from Calletta's face. "I was unaware he'd returned, Majesty. He must have slipped past my men."

A shadow crossed over her features and her lips twisted upwards in the beginning of a sneer. "Your mistake could have been costly, Calletta. Consider yourself fortunate that it didn't."

He sat up a little straighter in his chair, the sensation of dark magic rolling over his skin in oily waves. It wasn't the strongest magic he'd ever felt but it was still enough to make him sit up and take the woman in front of him seriously. "My apologies. I will not disappoint you again."

"See that you don't." Her tone was sweet, sickeningly so. "I would hate to have to tell my niece that her little puppet is no longer of use to us."

Calletta steeled himself against a shudder. "I can assure you, Majesty, everything will go to plan tomorrow. Wyatt Cain is unable to interfere now. You will be able to step in and save the Princess tomorrow as planned, earning the gratitude of your people." 

The sneer returned full force and her lavender eyes darkened noticeably. "It isn't their gratitude I want. I want their fear, their shock when they realise that once again their precious House of Gale has failed to protect them."

"Soon, Majesty," the Lord crooned soothingly. "All will be revealed in good time."

"I suppose." The Queen lifted a hand to her grey hair, smoothing it down as her gaze locked on him once more. "I want this done quickly and quietly. As soon as Zero gets here, you are to take Azkadellia to my niece. The official line will be that it is for her own safety."

"And what of Princess DG?" Calletta made no attempt at keeping the curiosity from his voice. He knew part of the plan, the details that his mistress had shared prior to his departure for the shining city, but was still in the dark as to what would happen in Central City once he took his leave. "What are your plans for her?"

The Queen picked up an ornate silver hand mirror and smiled at her reflection. "My plan is to keep her alive long enough to take what is owed to me and then I will kill her. And this time, she will stay dead."

Her attention was focused completely on her reflection. Sensing he was no longer needed or wanted, Lord Calletta got to his feet and left the room.

Alone, the Queen narrowed her eyes as she stared at the woman looking back at her, her expression growing harsh. "You think you can keep her secret but I will find out what you are hiding from me."

"I will fight with every breath in my body to make sure you never do. I will not let you harm my daughters."

"It's a little late for that, Your Majesty." Her smile was scathing. "What I have already done to your family does not compare to what is still in store for you all."

"They'll know. They will realise that you are not me, that I would never condone such things..."

"Like you realised your precious Azkadellia wasn't herself?" She smirked, pleased at the lack of response. "Keep your secrets if you will, fight as long as you're able. Nothing you do will save your daughters or the kingdom you hold so dear."

***

The dungeon of the palace was dark and cold. He was grateful for the shirt he'd been given by a guard who'd almost apologised to him, even if it was a little on the snug side. He hadn't had any visitors since being taken unceremoniously from DG's room but then he hadn't been expecting any. DG herself would no doubt be forbidden from visiting him and, if they were smart enough, anyone else who cared for him enough to try would stay away – hopefully coming up with another way to rescue the youngest Daughter of Light from the gallows.

He could only hope that DG would be able to get his message to Jeb, and that his son would not only understand but keep his promise. Cain didn't want them to waste time trying to figure out how they could break him out when DG's life hung in the balance. 

There was no way of keeping track of time, no way of knowing how long had passed since he'd been taken from DG. His cell had no window, no source of light other than the darkened torches in the narrow corridor behind the barred door. When the walls started to close in on him, he forced himself to close his eyes and take a deep breath.

There was plenty of air, he told himself, and he wouldn't be left in the small cell forever.

The fact there was no footage of one of the worst moments of his life playing on a continuous loop was a bonus, too.

After what felt like a lifetime, the hinges of the door leading down into the dungeon screeched to announce the arrival of a visitor. Bracing himself for an unwelcome face, Cain took a step back, concealing himself in the darker shadows.

"Father?" Jeb's voice was quiet, his steps hesitant. "I received a message from Princess DG..."

"You shouldn't be here." Pleased as he was to see his son, Cain couldn't help but worry Jeb would be charged with the same crime if Calletta thought he was a threat to his plans. "You shouldn't have come."

"And not visit my father?" Jeb's arched eyebrow was only just visible in the dim light from the torch that had lit itself when the door to the dungeons had opened. "Anyone who knows me would wonder why I'd stay away."

It was true, Cain realised, and Jeb's absence would no doubt arouse suspicion that the younger Cain was plotting against the crown – or at least the council – too. "You got my message."

"I got it." There was a short pause. "She doesn't know what it means, does she?"

'She doesn't know it means leaving you,' was what Jeb meant. DG wouldn't have passed it on if she knew his intention was for her to be saved even if it meant he was left behind.

"You'll keep your promise," Cain said instead.

"I gave you my word." And his word, to a Cain, was everything. Jeb sighed and took a step closer to the iron bars keeping his father from him. He held a hand out as if to touch them but felt the sting of magic against his palm before he could. "Father..."

"Jeb." Cain got as close to the bars as he could. He shook his head at the look on his son's face and held a finger against his lips; neither were naive enough to believe they were being allowed to converse in private. "There's nothing you can do, son."

"If I could..." Jeb's dark blue gaze met his father's cool blue stare. "I won't leave you here to rot. I'll find a way..."

A ghost of a smile played on Cain's lips. "I know, son."

There was a short silence, a pause in which they tried to convey that needed to be said without words. Jeb cleared his throat and looked away first. "They won't let her come and see you. The unofficial line is that the Queen was scandalised to hear you'd been arrested in a state of undress in her youngest daughter's rooms." Jeb's expression stayed carefully blank and he studiously avoided looking at his father, missing the way the tips of Cain's ears turned red. "Official reason is that the council aren't convinced she wasn't involved in the so-called kidnapping."

"She said she was," Cain admitted with a shrug. "Well, she told Calletta it wasn't kidnapping if she was willing."

"Was she?" Jeb's gaze returned to his father. "Willing, I mean?"

Cain didn't answer verbally; he wouldn't risk getting DG in more trouble than she was already in. He nodded shortly, the regret in his eyes telling Jeb everything he needed to know.

With a sigh, Jeb stood at attention and gave his father a salute, the old Tin Man sign of honour. 2I'll keep my word, father. I won't let you down."

"I know." Cain wished he could reach through the bars, wished he could embrace his son or at least shake his hand. The most he could do was force a smile. "I'm proud of you, son."

"I know." Jeb tried to match his father's smile but it was a feat he couldn't quite manage. He lingered for a few seconds more before leaving the dungeons, plunging his father into darkness once more, both praying it wouldn't be the last time they saw one another.

***

Azkadellia knocked hesitantly on the door to her sister's suite, letting herself fin when there was no answer. She closed the door behind her, biting down on her bottom lip to hold back a sigh when DG didn't move or look up from her place on the floor beside the fire.

The flames had long since died down, leaving nothing but slightly glowing ambers in their wake, but DG still sat staring at them as though they held the answers to all of life's questions if only she looked long and hard enough.

"Little sister?" Quickly crossing the room, Az knelt down beside her, reaching out to take her sister's hand. While usually she'd draw comfort from the contact, she couldn't help but gasp at the coolness to her sister's skin. "Oh, Deege."

"They won't let me see him." DG pulled her gaze from the dying fire and looked blindly at her sister, her eyes rimmed with red and her cheeks stained with tears. "They said it would be improper. Mother... Mother agrees. She said it would cause more problems than it would solve and that I've embarrassed the family enough with my behaviour."

Not knowing what to say, Azkadellia could only squeeze her sister's hand in sympathy. "She doesn't mean it, DG. She's just scared..."

"Of what?" DG burst out. "She's not the one due to die tomorrow! She's not the one who's going to lose her life knowing the man she loves might lose his, too! It's my fault, Az. Wyatt might die, too, and it's all my fault."

As much as she wanted to, Azkadellia couldn't deny that DG's prediction for Cain was a possibility. Treason was an offence punishable by death, and if the former Tin Man was found guilty... "If there was something I could do to help, DG..."

The only thing she could do was user her light and try to save both her sister and the Tin Man but DG wouldn't allow it, not even to save Cain. Azkadellia needed to live; the people needed her to. DG couldn't and wouldn't do anything, or let her sister do anything, to jeopardise that.

A bleak expression arranged the youngest Princess's features. She reached up with the hand that wasn't clutched in Azkadellia's and lifted the emerald from around her neck. Staring at the stone, feeling the pulse of magic within in, DG held it out for Azkadellia to take. "You have to keep it safe now, Az. I know you want nothing to do with it but it's your responsibility now."

She hesitated in taking the emerald. Every time the Witch had held it, she'd felt the power inside it leap in response to her own. Even before it'd been found by DG and released from the crypt of the Grey Gale, Azkadellia had felt it calling to her, a sickening siren song the Witch had become obsessed with. It was strange to Az that she'd never felt the draw, ever heard it call out to her, until the Witch's dark magic had blended with and overpowered her own.

The emerald of the eclipse was indeed powerful but there was something about it that still felt twisted to Azkadellia's senses.

With a reluctance her sister could see, the eldest Princess wrapped her free hand around the gem, closing her eyes against the onslaught of magic she could feel through the shiny surface.

'Release me,' it pleaded. 'Release me and I will save your sister. I will make everything right.'

DG claimed to never have heard it, which was the reason why Azkadellia had begged her to take the stone and keep it far away from her. Her sister couldn't do that anymore, and so it was up to Azkadellia to protect the emerald, to keep it from falling into the wrong hands.

To resist its dark power and the promises it threatened to keep.

***

The crowds booed as the announcement was made. They stomped their feet and jeered as the nominated spokesperson for the council detailed her crimes and explained how she'd come to be standing on the gallows in front of them. Lord Calletta stood a safe distance away, surrounded by guards – and her family. He'd declined to make the speeches himself but DG wasn't surprised; while he liked to be the centre of attention, even he wouldn't want to be the focus of so much anger and despair.

She stood stoically in front of her people, tears she refused to let fall clouding her vision. The sea of faces in front of her broke her heart; dozens of people were sobbing, others were begging for her release.

She truly felt the love of her people for the first time since returning to the O.Z. and the shared their sorry that her resurrection was going to end the same way it had begun: in death.

Behind her, she sensed someone approach moments before the heavy noose was placed around her neck. She closed her eyes for a brief second as nausea rolled through her stomach.

This was it. This was how the daughter of light, supposedly she with a great destiny, met her end.

Opening her eyes, DG fixed her gaze on her family and friends where they stood on a dais constructed especially for the occasion. Azkadellia wept opening, her distress enough to soften even the hardest of hearts. She was flanked by both Glitch and Raw, heroes of the eclipse, who seemed to only just be holding it together themselves. Beside them, her father stood with his back ramrod straight, despair etched so deeply into his features that he appeared to have aged drastically overnight. 

Her mother was at his side, appearing both regal and frail all at once. Her expression was distant, as though there was some internal war being waged within her, and didn't seem really aware of what was going on around her.

On her mother's other side, Lord Calletta stood watching over the proceedings. He kept glancing between where DG stood and her mother, almost as if he was expecting something to happen.

Probably, DG thought bitterly, hoping her mother would volunteer to take her place so that he could claim the throne as soon as it was vacated.

The noose around her neck tightened but not as much as she was expecting. Her hands, bound behind her back with rope, suddenly felt free.

"Not yet, Princess," a familiar voice murmured in her ear. "Wait for the signal."

Startled, DG felt her body tense as the sombre beat of drums began, starting the countdown.

Signal...?

***

'The Lady of Light can still be saved. It is not too late.'

'Go away. Stop speaking. She cannot know...'

'The dark ones cannot hear us. They do not know how.'

'You can be sure of that? Certain that the Witch cannot hear you, that she does not know of your plans?'

'We are certain, Queen of the O.Z. The dark ones cannot hear us for they do not know how to listen.'

'And you are certain that my angel can be saved if I take back my light? You can swear to me on all that is good in this land that DG will live?'

'She is our Lady. We will not permit her to die.'

'What will come of me if I do this? The Witch would have access to my powers, my light...'

'We could prevent that, Queen of the O.Z. Take your light from the Lady and give it to us for safekeeping. We will return it to you once your are free.'

'Then tell me what it is I must do. Hurry now. My angel has no time to waste.'

'As you wish, Your Majesty. Listen carefully...'

***

Three things happened as soon as the drums stopped. The first being that she felt her light drain away from her, her knees buckling at the sensation. She would have crumpled to the ground if not for the arm that wrapped around her waist, steadying her even as the world swam before her eyes.

The second was that the crowd suddenly came to life. They'd fallen silent with the steady beat of the drums but as soon as they stopped, the people came to life again, shouting and screaming as one in a loud roar that seemed to cause the ground beneath her feet to tremble.

The third was the pressure of the noose around her neck disappeared altogether. As she tried to make sense of it, a thick fog engulfed her and the man behind her, concealing them from view. She heard his voice close to her ear, stumbled as she tried to follow his orders as best as she could.

She couldn't see but she could hear the sounds of fighting and the cries of those getting hurt in her name. She could feel the panic and the confusion, the fear and the anger. She could feel everything, all at once, and it was far too much for her to bear.

As she was led into the crowd, blackness encroached on her vision. She heard a muttered curse as if it'd come from somewhere far away and felt herself being lifted, her feet leaving the ground and then...

... And then she knew nothing.

***

The waning Queen of the O.Z,  
A choice to make has she.  
The gift she gave is hers to take,  
If the child she saved she will forsake.  
Innocent blood, shed in pain and fear,  
Calls to the darkness as it draws near.  
One so dear will pay the cost,  
The Princess of Light soon to be lost.  
Anguish and fear consumes the land,  
Until hope is found and held in hand.

***

Confusion flooded the rooms and hallways of the palace, as well as the streets of the city beyond its walls. 

People were injured, some dead, lying in infirmaries and hospitals throughout the city. Mourners sat on the streets and wept bitterly, for both their loved ones and the lost Princess.

There were some who said she'd managed to escape, that they'd seen the hooded figure of her would-be executioner lead her to safety through the fog that had suddenly descended over them. There were others who said the fog itself was caused by remnant magic from the Sorceress, whose rope had been used to fashion the noose around the Princess's neck and that the Daughter of Light was dead, her body as lost to them as her light.

No one had any real answers, not even the Royal Family.

The Princess Azkadellia had taken to her rooms, accompanied by the Viewer and former Headcase who had been so loyal to her sister. She was distraught but seemed to determined to believe her sister was alive somehow, somewhere.

The Prince-Consort had been taken to the palace infirmary at his wife's request and given a tonic to help him rest. Word around the palace was that the poor man was consumed by grief at having lost his beloved daughter for a second time. It was no secret that he'd spent most time with Princess DG following the House of Gale's return to power and the palace staff keenly empathised with her father's loss.

The Queen hadn't been seen since the family had returned to the palace. She shut herself in her office and met with her advisors and the council, though the subject of those discussions was not widely known. It surprised everyone, however, that the person she granted an audience to more often than anyone else was Lord Calletta himself, the noble many held responsible for the situation they had found themselves in.

Though what was discussed during those audiences was again not known, it still added only to the confusion of bewilderment of all.

***

"I want her found." Barely restrained rage caused her lavender eyes to darken. "I want the little bitch found by nightfall and brought back here. Anyone who helped her is to be suitably punished. Is that understood?"

Lord Calletta clasped his hands behind his back to keep her from noticing how much they trembled. "Of course, Your Majesty. I've sent my best men out to look for her. They will not return empty handed."

"Your best better be good enough, Calletta." The Witch fixed him with an icy stare and he found himself looking at the evil that lived within. "This was not part of the plan."

"Forgive me if I speak out of turn, Majesty, but why did you not follow the plan?" Calletta took half a step back under the weight of her glare before he could remind himself that she wasn't his mistress. "You were supposed to step in and save her yourself," he reminded her awkwardly. "Halt the proceedings and insist she be given a full trial to be held in front of the people..."

"I was unable to." She spoke through gritted teeth, her hands clenched into bloodless fists. "This body refused to cooperate."

"The Queen is still fighting you?" Calletta couldn't contain his surprise. "I thought she was weak. She has little light..."

"As do I, you idiot." Her lavender eyes flashed a deep, angry violet. "It took all I had not to be destroyed by the little princesses at the eclipse. Only a shred of my power remains and that I use to keep possession of this body..."

Calletta frowned. He'd known the Witch was weak; his mistress had told him so. He also knew that his mistress had no desire to rule the O.Z. and that the Witch, under the guise of the rightful Queen, would continue to do so, creating a realm where those who served would flourish and those who didn't... It would be a kingdom he had been promised found fall on its knees for him, showering him with riches and comfort and luxury as rewards for restoring the rightful bloodline to the throne.

Gone was the Witch's ability to plunge the realm into never-ending darkness; his mistress had forbid that. What good was power if nothing existed to exert control over>

Still, it surprised him that the Witch was so depleted of dark magic. How was she to keep the realm at heel if she couldn't control the body she possessed...?

"Ask." Her eyes gleamed as she watched the thoughts pass over his face. "You wish to know how I can be of use to your mistress?"

"Forgive me, Majesty." He lowered his gaze respectfully, resentfully. "You vowed you would assist her rise to power if she granted you control over the people of the realm but I see not how you can do so if you are so weak."

"It is temporary." The royal mask slipped and the Witch snarled at him. "And will be corrected once you return the young princess to me." She saw the confusion on his face and rolled her eyes. "The light within her is strong. It stands to reason that any daughter she bears will carry on her mother's gift. Once a child grows in her womb, its magic will also begin to grow. Magic is neither light nor do at conception; it is raw and pliable, open to influence."

The Lord frowned. "You wish to find her, then kill her once she is with child?"

"She would live until the child is born. While within her body, the child would be protected by her light. At the time of birth, a witch must temporarily give up her magic or it will destroy the child. In that instant, the child would be vulnerable and its mother unable to protect it. It is then both the Princess and the infant could be stripped of their magic."

Calletta could only gape at her. It was the first time he'd heard her part of the plan in full and he found himself feeling strangely reluctant to be part of it. "Zero's role in your plan...?"

"To father the child." Sharp lavender eyes watched him intently. "He is loyal, dependable. He has more reason than most to want the Princess to suffer. He will not falter in doing what needs to be done. If he wishes to keep the child afterwards, he may do so. Perhaps I will even allow him to keep its mother, too. Neither will be a threat to me or your mistress without their light to aid them."

If they lived, Calletta thought, he could appease the small shred of conscience that remained inside him. "It is a great plan, Majesty. One you have given careful consideration to."

The Witch sneered at him. "Did you think I would not? Tell me, Calletta, do you think me worthy of my own blood's loyalty now?"

"Of course, Majesty. I did not mean to imply otherwise." He turned his head. "I will see to it that Princess DG is found and returned to you."

"See that you do." With a careless wave, the Witch dismissed him.

Calletta was almost to the door when he stopped, his hand hovering over the handle. "Any word on where the emerald is, Majesty? I know my mistress longs for its return..."

"The emerald is in Princess Azkadellia's possession," the Witch answered after a moment's pause. "Once Zero arrives and Princess DG is found, I will send both to your mistress."

Calletta gave her a small nod, still facing the door. He left without further delay, sensing that time was running out. The sooner Princess DG returned to the palace, the sooner the emerald would be on its way to his mistress.

***

The Viewer held Azkadellia's hand tightly, his brow furrowed in concentration. He shook his head, his breath leaving him in a gasp as he opened his eyes.

"Sense DG but not enough to know if hurt." His expression was apologetic. "Raw must go to her. Must leave palace if to be of any help to younger Princess now."

Azkadellia managed a wan smile, patting his hand in understanding. "Then you should go. Don't worry about me, Raw. I'll be fine here. It's DG who needs you now."

The Viewer didn't look convinced. "Danger in palace. Darkness. Azkadellia not safe. DG want Raw to protect sister."

"DG's need for you is greater than my own," Azkadellia insisted. "I need to know she is okay, Raw. And I need her to come back if we're to stand any hope of defeating the council."

"Raw not want to leave Azkadellia." His dark eyes were conflicted. "Princess not safe."

The third occupant of the room cleared his throat loudly to gain their attention. "What am I, invisible?" When neither of them answered, Glitch shook his head. "Azkadee won't be alone, Raw. I'll keep her safe."

Azkadellia's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I thought you'd be going with him, to help find DG...?"

"And leave you? DG'd let the munchkins skin me alive if I left you on your own." Her mother's former advisor gave her a lopsided smile. "I'm not going anywhere, Princess."

"Glitch protect Azkadellia." Raw gave a small nod, approval replacing the concern on his face. "Raw go to DG. Help bring her home."

"Then it's decided." Azkadellia fought the urge to summon the emerald from the box she'd magically sealed it inside, knowing it would be selfish to ask the sensitive viewer to take it to her sister just so she could be rid of it. "You can leave at first light tomorrow. Let me know what you'll need, Raw, and I'll make sure it's ready for you." 

"Raw not need anything but good night's sleep," the viewer assured her, his gaze meeting Glitch's across the room. A good night's sleep, thought, was something neither man thought would be easily achieved.

***

The whip sliced through the air with a sharp hiss, tearing through cotton and skin with no respect for either.

"Tell me where I can find the Princess." Calletta spat the demand through clenched jaws, the scent of blood and sweat clinging to his nostrils. The man on the ground before him grunted but didn't answer, so he drew back his arm and brought the whip down again. "The sooner you tell me, the sooner your agony ends."

Again, the bleeding man said nothing.

Calletta muttered a curse and pulled the whip back again. Once, twice, thrice. Each cut bit deeper than the last, tearing through bloody flesh to the muscle underneath. "Tell me!"

"No!" On the last stroke, Wyatt Cain lifted his head to glare at him though pain dazed blue eyes. His cheek was already beginning to bruise from the blow that had sent him to his knees and his bottom lip was bloody and swollen from where he'd bitten it to keep from crying out. "You can keep this up all night, Calletta, but I can't tell you what I don't know."

"Would you tell me if you knew?" The Lord's eyes darkened in suspicion. "Would you lie and say you didn't know to protect her, Cain?"

Cain spat, a globule of blood and saliva landing on the floor at Calletta's feet. "I'd die to protect her."

Calletta sneered, raising his arm once more. "Maybe we should put that to the test, Cain. Maybe we should put that to the test."

Another last of the whip, then another and another. As it tore through muscle to the bone, Cain cried out, a soul-shattering sound of pain and anguish that seemed to echo throughout the palace as night began to fall.

***

'Wake now. Wake and embrace your light.'

DG wanted to follow the command but her body refused to cooperate. Her limbs felt heavy, disconnected almost. Her head spun in dizzying circles even though she was pretty sure she was a) lying down and b) still mostly unconscious.

'Awake, Lady. Awake!'

The power in the order was hard to mistake – and impossible to ignore. She groaned and fought to open eyelids that felt like they'd been welded shut. Dark green came into view first, blurry and out of focus. Panic burst in her chest as she remembered the sarcophagus the Sorceress had imprisoned her in and her chest constricted, her lungs straining –

"Princess? DG?" Familiar yet blurred features swam in front of her, getting between her and the green lid. "Just breathe. You're okay. You're safe now."

It was alright for him to say, DG thought with a strangled gasp for breath. He wasn't the one suffocating! She reached for her light, for the familiar weight of it to comfort her and panicked all the more when she felt nothing.

'Breathe, Lady. Your light is waiting. The moon has almost completed its ascent and waits to gift you with that which is rightfully yours.'

Panic eased into awareness. Confusion faded into remembrance. With help, DG sat up and looked around, taking in her surroundings as she caught her breath.

A tent, not a coffin. That was good; it was spacious in comparison. On the cot beside her, her companion cleared his throat and she turned her head to look at him. Her heart clenched at the familiar features and she found she had to take another breath to quell her raging emotions. A Cain sat beside her, but not the one she longed to see.

"Are you okay, Princess?" Ever polite, Jeb held out a cup of water and didn't comment when she took it with trembling hands. "You've been out most of the day. We were worried the fog did something to you."

The fog...? As she sipped the water, the day's events sharpened in her memory. "That was you...?"

"No, Ma'am." Jeb didn't blink though surprised flashed over his features at her question. "We thought it was you. Your magic..."

'It was us. We told you we would save you, Lady. All you need do now is agree to serve.'

"Oh." DG frowned down at the cup. In the reflective surface of the clear water, a set of dark brown eyes appeared. Beside her, Jeb gasped. It was all DG could do to keep hold of the cup and not throw it to the ground. "How did you...?"

'Your Mother took back her gift. We have her light now. It is safe until she is able to reclaim it.'

"Safe...?" DG shook her head. "You'll have to explain that one later. Why did you save me when I've yet to agree to serve you?"

'You could not agree if you were dead,' the voices pointed out. 'Agree now and we will assist you in the first ritual.'

"Not like I have much of a choice – wait." DG stared into the wise, old eyes. "First ritual?"

'The first is to claim the light that is rightfully yours,' the voices explained patiently. 'Once you have done so and have accepted your role as Lady, we will assist you in destroying the dark ones. Once they have been defeated, we will guide you through the second ritual, which will complete the cycle and make you our Lady of Light.'

"Okay." DG exhaled slowly. The thought of destroying the dark ones – Calletta, she assumed, and the woman she'd seen in her nightmares – sounded like a good plan. Not to mention saving her family – saving Wyatt – and getting her life back to the way she felt it should be. "Tell me what I need to do."

'You must go outside. Follow our directions to a clearing in the forest. Stand within the silver circle and let the light flow through you.'

"You should like Tutor," DG said with a sigh.

'Mr. Tutor is a man of magic. He, too, completed the ritual once.'

"Did my mother? And Az?" Curious, DG forgot she was conversing with a cup of water, unaware of the bizarre image she presented to the soldier beside her. "Since they have their light..."

'Your mother completed the ritual under her mother's guidance. The Witch completed it for your sister. It is your turn, Lady. And your gift will be far greater than any has known in hundreds of years.'

"Then let's do this. I agree to serve the O.Z. and its kin." As soon as she said it, a wave of approval washed over her and the eyes disappeared. She set the cup down carefully and turned to Jeb. "What are the chances you don't think I'm completely insane right now?"

Jeb flashed her a grin that was so much like his father's, her heart ached in her chest for a moment. "Dad told me about the voices and the prophecy so I don't think you're completely insane. Wasn't expecting the one-sided conversation with a pair of floating eyes, though."

DG laughed and shook her head. "Can't say I was expecting that, either." Her laughter died and determination took its place. "I've got to do something, Jeb, and if you're as much like your father as I think you are, you're not gonna like it..."

***

She was right; he didn't like it. And he refused point blank to let her go alone with only the voices in her head for company.

When he put it like that, DG couldn't blame him. She agreed he and a small number of his men could go with her on the condition they would stand on the edge of the clearing and not intervene in the ritual, no matter what it looked like was happening to her. Jeb had hesitated, only agreeing when DG told him that if she didn't complete the ritual, the O.Z. and its kin would be unable to sustain her life and he'd have to explain to his father that he'd let her die.

Leaving most of the soldiers who'd banded together to save her at the campsite, Jeb and four others accompanied DG on her midnight walk through the trees, with only the light of the rising moon to light the way.

The clearing thankfully wasn't too far from their camp and they reached it just as the first full moon reached its peak in the sky. DG scoured the ground for a circle of silver, exhaling slowly when the full moon cast a ring that seemed to glow at the very heart of the clearing.

"Here goes nothing." She bit her lip and gave Jeb a nervous smile. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck, Princess." Jeb's stance was tense, his eyes dark with concern.

"Remember, no interrupting!" DG called out as she made her way into the circle. "This is between the powers that be and me." Once she stood inside the circle, she felt her skin prickle with awareness. She could feel the magic in the air, feel it building around her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Let the light flow through me," she murmured, flexing her fingers. "Let it flow..."

Outside of the circle, Jeb and his soldiers could only watch in awe as the ritual began. A beam of light struck the Princess, bathing her in an ethereal glow. It seemed to come all the way from the moon itself, hitting the ground and making the outside line of the circle burn. At the same time, the ground inside the circle seemed to move, shifting slowly in a spiral with DG at its centre. It rose, glittering like silver dust, moving faster and getting thicker, concealing her from view.

Beside him, a soldier moved as if to take a step forward. Jeb shot out an arm, blocking his way. "No interruptions," he ordered brusquely. "She knows what she's doing."

He hoped she did, anyway.

It felt like it took an eternity but was over in a matter of minutes. The ground settled first and DG was visible once more. The beam of light seemed to gradually fade though strangely did so from the direction of the moon first, almost as if DG was absorbing it into her.

Given the way she glowed, Jeb wondered if maybe that was what he was witnessing.

Only once the beam was completely gone did the ring of burning silver at the edge of the circle fade. Only then did DG open her eyes, the glow of her skin fading as she walked – no, stumbled – towards them. Her smile was bright, her blue eyes luminous. She made it out of the circle before tripping, her weakened knees giving out on her.

Jeb and the soldier he'd stopped from breaking the circle caught her before she could hit the ground. Instead of looking alarmed, DG smiled up at them, a contented sigh escaping her.

"That... was a rush," she murmured, her eyes slowly sliding shut.

She was asleep before he could ask her what she meant.

***

In the darkened cell of the palace dungeons, miles away from the forest, Wyatt Cain lay on his stomach, the open wounds on his back stinging and oozing. He pressed his face against the cool stone floor but it did little to ease the heat in his skin as infection began to set in.

"I'm sorry, DG," he muttered brokenly, squeezing his eyes shut as an image of her came to mind. Flushed and smiling prettily, her hair tousled from his hands and her mouth swollen from his kisses, he allowed himself a moment of true regret for what they would never share. "I'm sorry... my love."

As consciousness left him, a cool breeze slipped through the bars of the cell. It washed over his skin in a caress he couldn't feel, soothing the pain and healing the vicious wounds left by Calletta's whip.

'Sleep, Chosen One. The Lady is ours now, and you are hers. What is hers is ours, and ours we save. Sleep, Guardian. Sleep and be saved.'

Cain sighed, his body relaxing at the command he didn't hear, her name slipping from his lips as he lost himself in dreams. "DG..."

***

Overnight, chaos had broken out across the city. As the second sun rose up, so, too, did the people of the O.Z.

The Witch's time in power had taken its toll on them but they refused to submit to another dark reign. They fought against those who would suppress them, rallied themselves against the council, against the nobles and advisors who had turned what should have been a joyous time into one of despair.

They fought in the Queen's name, not realising it was the evil they fought against that wore her face.

"Fools," the Witch muttered, watching them take up arms outside of the palace walls from the safety of her window. Still, she smiled in satisfaction at the anger she could feel radiating from them.

Behind her, Calletta cleared his throat. "You summoned me, Majesty?"

"I did." Turning away from the window, she fixed Calletta with a smile that made his skin crawl. "There's been a change of plan. I want you to send Azkadellia away for her own safety. You can tell the people she's going to Finaqua but I want you to take her to your mistress instead."

"Majesty?" He tried not to let his surprise show. "What about the emerald...?"

"It will be with Azkadellia. I daresay she won't leave it behind, not with so much unrest. " The Witch almost sighed at the loss of such power but reminded herself of the greater magic that had been promised to her. "Take both the gem and the Princess to me niece as a gift from me. Tell our dear Amara that the time for her to join me here has come. Once we stand together, we can let this little rebellion run its course, put on a united front and let the people believe they have won."

Calletta nodded to show he had understood the message. "What about the Princess DG, Majesty? You still need her..."

"Zero will find her and bring her to me." The Witch waved his concerns away. "He wants his reward too much to let her go unfound for long."

"I have received word that Zero is almost here, Your Majesty, with your loyal army. They await instruction on how to proceed given the crowds that stand between them and the palace." Lord Calletta watched her curiously, awaiting her response. "Should I send word for them to begin searching for Princess DG?"

The Witch shook her head. "No. Send word for them to join me here. The people want to fight for their Queen. It would be uncharitable for me to deny them that."

"Very well. I will be ready to leave with Princess Azkadellia within the hour." Calletta kept his tone low to disguise the relief he felt at returning to his mistress's side. "If there's nothing else, Majesty?"

"Nothing at this time." She turned her back on him, facing the window once more.

***

His sense of her was stronger when he woke up. Raw didn't mention the change to Azkadellia, not wanting to get her hopes up unnecessarily but he was optimistic as he left the city and headed straight for the woodland surrounding it.

When he woke up that morning, he'd felt a shift in the air around him. The darkness he'd been sensing was still there, still growing, but it had been joined by a sense of light that was so good, so strong that it almost overwhelmed everything else.

A sense of light that somehow felt like DG.

It was that he followed, leaving the road and well-travelled footpaths to cut through the trees that seemed more vivid, more vibrant than he could ever remember them being. Raw paused to rest as the suns continued to rise, putting a hand against the trunk of a tree to support his weight for just a moment...

"Hello, Brother Viewer." The tree didn't just speak in his head; it spoke aloud. With a startled cry, Raw pulled his hand away and stumbled, falling over an exposed tree root. The leaves of the tree rustled as if laughing at him. "Forgive us. We did not mean to startle you."

"Tree talks." Raw stared up at in wonder. "Tree alive?"

"We were always alive, Brother. Just sleeping." If it were possible for a tree to smile, Raw was convinced it would be. "We wake now, called by the Lady's Light. Is that not where you are heading, Brother? Answering the Lady's summoning?"

"DG." Hope and warmth flared in his chest, not all of it his. Raw felt dizzy with it and was glad he was already sitting down. "DG magic strong. DG lives."

The leaves rustled again. "The Lady lives. She has taken the first step. The O.Z. and its kin will serve her now, as the Lady will surely serve us."

"DG make good Lady." Raw was certain of it. Pride filled him, but his knowledge of the growing darkness cast a shadow over his elation. "Evil rises. Danger on the horizon. Lady and O.Z. not safe yet."

"We know, Brother. As the kin awakens, we sense the darkness, too." The tree's tone was sombre. "The Lady must travel far. She must go to the Blood Mountain and find the answers to questions she is yet to ask. We tell her this but the Lady wishes to follow her heart."

Raw closed his eyes and focused on DG, fixating on her sense of indecision and quickly realising the cause of it. "DG drawn to sister. Drawn to make. Gains strength from those closest to her. Needs loved ones to be safe so can focus on saving O.Z."

The tree was silent, considering the words. "We cannot help the sister," it said eventually, sounding regretful. "Dark magic shields Princess Azkadellia even as she travels across our land. Once the Lady's Chosen is free, the kin will protect and guide him to the Lady's side."

Raw stared at the tree in confusion. "Princess Azkadellia travels? Where?"

"Towards the Blood Mountain," the tree answered eventually. "Into darkness. You must go to the Lady now, Brother. Tell her to follow her sister. Tell her that the city may burn but hope is not lost while the Blood Mountain still stands."

Silence filled the forest. Raw stood, casting his senses out in the direction from which he'd come. He stumbled as wave after wave of emotion hit him, terrible devastating emotions that filled him with dread and caused his eyes to sting. He hadn't felt it as he'd travelled, the elation in being able to sense DG's light so strong that it blocked out everything else.

He could feel it now, though, and, as he broke out into a run in DG's direction, he prayed to Glinda that he could shut it out again.

***

His head was groggy, his stomach protesting. The Healer's tonic he'd been given had kept him out for almost a full day but Ahamo refused any more when he heard that Azkadellia was gone, too.

"She's been sent to Finaqua, Consort," he was told by the Healer who broke the news to him. "Lord Calletta has gone, too. For the Princess's safety."

"Why is she no longer safe here?" He had demanded. "What has changed?"

The Healer had looked over her shoulder to check they were alone before answering, her tone soft and hurried. "The people are staging a revolt, Consort, against the council for what they did to Princess DG. There are some who believe the Queen is being held against her will, others who say she is as much to blame as the council. The people will fight to get justice for Princess DG, perhaps until Princess Azkadellia can take the throne or the Queen can prove she is strong enough to rise above the Council's wishes."

Ahamo's shoulders slumped. "Then the people have given up hope that DG may still live."

"Not everyone, Consort." The Healer's smile was hopeful. "Most of us still pray to Glinda that Princess DG will return to us again."

"Like a phoenix," Ahamo muttered to himself, "Rising from the ashes." At the Healer's confused look, he shook his head. "Help me up. I have to see my wife."

She did so with great reluctance, which was how he'd come to be walking through the palace halls, his body protesting every step he took. He always felt sick after drinking a tonic from the infirmary and preferred to avoid it wherever necessary; medication of any sort slowed his responses and his time as Seeker had shown him how important it was to always be alert.

"Consort."

Ahamo managed to keep himself upright but only just. He turned in the direction of the voice, his eyes narrowing at the sight of Count Delcor, half-concealed by shadows at the end of the hallway. "Delcor." He frowned when the Count moved swiftly to stand in front of him, blocking the way to the Queen's suite. "Excuse me. I wish to see my wife."

"You cannot." Something Ahamo couldn't decipher passed over Delcor's features. "Your wife is... unavailable."

The Prince-Consort arched an eyebrow. "I'm sure she'll be available when she knows who wishes to see her."

"She will not." Delcor reached out and grabbed his arm. Ahamo bared his teeth in a grin that, in his days as the Seeker, would have made a lesser man back off. "Your wife is not your wife, Consort, and there is little you can do here to help her. You must instead help your daughter. Help both of your daughters."

"My daughters are gone. My wife is here." Ahamo tried to pull his arm away and was surprised at the strength in the other man's grip. "Let go."

"I cannot. You leave me no choice, Consort." Delcor heaved the sigh of long-suffering man. 

Before Ahamo could question him further, the hallway shifted around them and suddenly they weren't outside of the Queen's suite anymore but were standing outside a cell in the dungeons instead.

 

"What... How...?" Ahamo stared at the man who slowly released his arm. "Who are you?"

"Who I am is of no importance." Delcor reached an arm through the bars of Cain's cell. He ground his teeth as the magic leapt at him, his brow furrowed in concentration as he opened the door. "What is of importance is that you take the Lady's Chosen from this place. Once you are outside of the city, you will be led to your daughter. You must do this, Ahamo, to save both Princesses and the Queen. If the Lady returns to Central City without having received the message that awaits her, the House of Gale will fall and darkness will reign."

"If my wife is in danger, I should stay here at her side..." Ahamo stared at Delcor in confusion. "And if Calletta is gone, what danger remains...?"

"The Queen is the danger that remains. The Queen is not your wife." Delcor moved into the cell and crouched at Cain's side. The former Tin Man barely stirred. "Your daughter's were not the only Gale women to be exposed to the Witch on the day of the double eclipse. When she was defeated, part of her survived and found a host, another woman with magic in her blood. Azkadellia and DG were protected by their combined light. Queen Lavender was left vulnerable and exposed."

Ahamo could only gape at him. "You're saying the Witch possessed my wife...? But she was defeated..."

"A small part of her essence survived. It infected your wife like a virus and has grown stronger, feeding off what was left of Queen Lavender's power. She is not the evil that threatens the O.Z., Consort, not alone. The Lady of Light must fight the darkness and save the O.Z. but she is not ready yet. If she returns before she is ready, she will fail and all that is good will die." Delcor lay a hand on Cain's back. Pale blue light flowed from his palm into the former Tin Man's prone form. "I can help you get out of the palace but must part ways with you then."

"Why? If it's so important we get to DG and stop her from coming here...?" Ahamo instinctively moved to help him get Cain off the floor. "Why won't you come with us?"

Delcor didn't answer straight away. Once Cain was between them, he closed his eyes and Ahamo felt a shift in their surroundings again. When he was able to look around without throwing up, he realised they were indeed outside of the palace – outside of the city, even, staring up at the gates built into its walls.

"I have to get the emerald," Delcor answered after taking a moment to catch his breath. "I have to destroy it, before it gets to her."

"Her?" Ahamo found himself supporting most of Cain's weight as Delcor began to disappear, fading out of existence as though he'd never been there in the first place. "Before it gets to who?" He called out.

"Amara," came the answer, whispered it seemed by the wind itself. "Daughter of the evil witch Mombi."

"Mombi?" The name was familiar but Ahamo couldn't place it. There was no clarification, only a groan from Cain as the former Tin Man started to wake up. "Cain?"

It took a few moments but Cain eventually stood on his own, his eyes confused as he looked at the Prince-Consort. "Ahamo...? Where... How did we get here?"

"I'm not entirely sure," the Prince-Consort admitted, his expression troubled. "And I'm guessing they're here to show us which way to go now."

Cain followed his line of sight and instantly reached for a pistol that wasn't there. The large black cat that had emerged from the forest ahead of others of its kind lowered its head but not before he got a glimpse of a feline smile.

'Lady's Chosen, Lady's father.' A distinctly female voice purred inside their minds. 'We have come to lead you to our Lady. Come.'

Both Ahamo and Cain were too stunned to argue.

***

When Raw reached the campsite, it was to find the soldiers of the Queen's Guard on high alert and DG pacing the confines of a tent, muttering under breath about stubborn men. Given the way she kept shooting glares at Jeb and muttering about fathers and sons, it didn't take his gift as a Viewer to know who had caused her temper to flare.

"DG must calm," Raw said as way of announcing himself to the tent's occupants. "People with weapons already on edge."

"Raw!" Delight lit up her features, her ire momentarily forgotten as she threw herself into the Viewer's embrace. "They said you were coming but I didn't know if it was true!"

"They?" Raw questioned as he reluctantly stepped back.

"The voices in her head," Jeb answered blandly. "She's been arguing with them non-stop since she woke up. It's good to see you, Raw. Do you have news from the city?"

"You'd hear them, too, if you weren't too pig-headed to listen," DG cut in before Raw could answer. "You are just like your father, I swear. So damn stubborn."

Raw coughed to smother a chuckle at the expression on Jeb's face – and the frustration on DG's. The former didn't seem to have taken it as the insult the latter had meant it to be. "DG right. Kin are waking. All can hear if willing to listen."

Jeb rolled his eyes at the satisfaction on DG's face. "So she says."

"She has a name and a title," DG retorted haughtily, ruining the effect when she stuck out her tongue. Childlike antics over, she turned her attention to Raw, her blue eyes big and pleading. "They say I can't go back to the city, that it's not safe. It's the one thing they all seem to agree on, Raw, but I can't do that. Tell them it'd be okay. I have to get back to the palace. Azkadellia needs me..."

"Azkadellia no longer in the city, DG." Raw caught her hand and let her to the small cot at the side of the tent. "Azkadellia sent away. People in city angry, scared. Not safe for Azkadellia. Not safe for DG."

DG's face fell. "I still have to go back. Glitch isn't with you, so..."

"Glitch with Azkadellia." Raw patted her hand. "Will protect sister."

The determination in her eyes didn't falter though her tone softened noticeably. "What about Wyatt? I can't leave him there. I won't." Out of the corner of his eye, Raw saw Jeb stiffen at the mention of his father and sensed the younger Cain's conflicting emotions when it came to leaving the elder Cain behind. "The O.Z. and kin keep telling me we need to leave here and go to the Blood Mountain, that a message waits for me there. Jeb says we should listen to them and go but I can't... I need Cain, Raw. I can't go anywhere not knowing he's safe."

"Tin Man Lady's Chosen," Raw said quietly. "DG's mate."

She blushed at the declaration, but made no attempt at denying it. "He's where he is because of me. If anything happens to him..."

"He's where he is because he wants you to be safe. Because he needs you to be." Jeb's tone was equally quiet and just as firm. "I can't let you go back for him, Princess, as much as I'd like to join you. I made a promise to keep you safe and I won't break that promise, not knowing what it'll do to him if something did happen to you."

"What about what it'll do to me if something happens to him?" DG let go of Raw's hand and got to her feet. She walked towards Jeb, her expression pleading. "Please, Jeb. You kept your promise by keeping me from hanging on the gallows. That's all he asked you to do and you've done it. You can let me go and wouldn't be breaking your promise."

It wasn't Jeb who responded to her plea. It wasn't Raw, either. It was someone – something – else and, judging by the shocked expression on Jeb's face, DG realised he had heard it, too.

'You cannot return to the city until you are ready, Lady,' it was a low sound, almost a growl. 'It is not safe and we will not permit it.'

"Permit it?" Temper caused colour to rise in her cheeks. "Who are you to permit me to do anything?"

"Who are you in general would be my question," Jeb muttered under his breath, his eyes daring around the tent suspiciously.

'Serve and be served, Lady. That is the arrangement. You must serve us, and we will serve you in return.'

"Seriously, who is that?" Jeb's hand moved to his gun. "We're alone, right? You're not seeing anything I can't?"

"O.Z kin everywhere," Raw told him, amusement in his voice. "Will be close if we can hear."

"Serving you is one thing. Following your orders while the man I love is subject to Glinda only knows what is another." DG stood with her hands on her hips, glaring into thin air. "And if we're really going to have this discussion, I demand that you show yourself for it. In fact, I order you to 'serve and be served'," she repeated. "Let's see how good you are at following instructions."

There was a short silence. Nothing happened. Just as DG was feeling smug and a little disappointed, the flat to the tent opened and one of Jeb's men stepped in, his demeanour nervous.

"Ah, Sir, Princess. Sorry to interrupt but I really think you should see this."

***

The emerald was getting louder the further they got from Central City. Azkadellia tried to ignore it, tried to distract herself from its song but it sounded so elated, so jubilant, that she was struggling to block it out.

"Are we almost there?" She asked desperately, leaning across Glitch to move the blinds covering the windows of the carriage and concealing the scenery from view. "It feels like we've been travelling forever."

"Don't do that, Princess." Calletta leaned over and batted her hands way from the covering. "We will be there soon enough."

"Where?" Glitch caught the covering before it could fall back into place. He stared at the passing scenery, a frown on his face. "This isn't the way to Finaqua. We should be well into lake country by now."

"We're not going to Finaqua." Calletta informed him, his eyes flashing dangerously. "We're going somewhere safer. Somewhere no one will think to search for the Princess Azkadellia."

Glitch glared at him. "And you didn't think to tell us that? Whose idea was that?"

"The Queen's." Calletta smirked, his enjoyment of the moment spreading as he watched their reaction. "Everything that's happened has been on orders of the Queen. Your banishment from the palace, Princess DG's execution, the Tin Man's arrest. The Queen has been behind it all." Calletta leaned forward. "Only she's not the Queen you remember," he confessed in a conspiratorial tone. "I believe you used to refer to her as Sorceress."

The Lord laughed at their stunned expressions. As Glitch tried to deny it, living up to his name and repeating himself, Azkadellia's denials were drowned out by the emerald's song and the wicked laughter she could hear the closer they got to their true destination.

"Blood Mountain," she gasped, the sound of her voice jolting Glitch from his misfiring. "You're taking us to the Blood Mountains."

The emerald she carried sang even louder, its voice ringing in her ears.

Whatever or whoever was waiting at the Blood Mountains for them, the emerald was looking forward to its arrival.

***

The Queen's Guard stood in an uneasy standoff with the animals that had moved out of the forest and come to stand on the edge of the human camp. The soldier that had disappeared into the tent to tell their esteemed leader re-emerged, followed by Jeb, DG and Raw.

The former stopped, a stunned expression on his face when he saw the animals. The Princess sighed and the Viewer smiled.

'You asked us to show ourselves.' It was said with a growl by the leader of the grey wolves. The animal, male if its voice was any indication, took a step forward. Behind him, another wolf growled in warning when one of Jeb's men raised his gun. 'Your people still do not hear us, Lady.'

"Some do," DG answered with the wave of her hand, watching the emotions play across the faces of those who did. "Those who don't will hear you once I've completed the second ritual if I understand it."

'You do.' The wolf took another step towards her. 'To perform the second ritual, you need to live. If you wish to live, you need not return to the city of humans until you are truly ready.'

"So I'm to follow orders like a good girl and ignore the fact that the man I love could be killed on a whim?" DG ignored the surprised sounds from around the camp at her declaration. "How can you expect me to do what needs to be done when part of me will always be wondering what's happening in Central City?"

'Your mate lives. We protect him now.' The wolf tilted his head to one side, as though listening to something she couldn't hear.

"How can you protect him?" Tears of frustration stung her eyes. "How can I be sure that he's safe?"

'You can trust us, Lady. We would not lie to you.' The wolf met her gaze. 'Your wellbeing is paramount to us. Your mate is integral to you, therefore he is integral to us.'

"If that's true, why won't anyone let me go and help him?" She stopped just short of stomping her foot. "I have full use of my light. I can feel it running through my veins. I could destroy the O.Z. and every living thing in it in the blink of an eye with the magic I was gifted with. Why does no one believe I can go to Central City and save Wyatt without endangering myself for anyone else?"

"Maybe because you going to Central City when I'm not there would be pointless?" The voice came from the opposite side of the camp. DG spun around, as did the soldiers standing around her, just in time to see a slow grin spread across Cain's face as he walked through the camp, her bewildered father at his side and a small group of cats behind him. "Try not to destroy the O.Z. with that power of yours, sweetheart. Would kinda make saving it seem like a pointless exercise."

"Wyatt." His name was both a gasp and a sigh and the smile that broke out across her face was breath-taking. "You're here. You're really, really here."

"Sure hope so, Princess." Cain's grin grew and he braced himself, catching her when she closed the gap between them and threw herself into his arms. "Otherwise this is the strangest dream I've ever had."

He wrapped both arms around her, keeping her close as she buried her face against his neck and inhaled deeply. Her body trembled in the circle of his arms and he tightened his hold on her. Meeting his son's gaze over the top of her head, Cain caught the relief on Jeb's face and grinned, knowing it was reflected on his.

As much as he wanted to just hold her and savour the sensation, there were too many people – and animals – witnessing their reunion for his liking. "Darlin', as much as I'm pleased to see you, i think we've got a situation to deal with."

As if on cue, the alpha wolf growled and the alpha cat hissed in response.

DG pulled away but lingered beside him. She glanced over at the wolf pack, then looked to the feline pride that had escorted Cain and her father to camp. Feeling a headache brewing as the two groups of animals glared at one another, she sighed and shook her head. "If you guys can't play nicely, you can leave anytime you want. Don't feel like you have to stick around on my account."

'The feline pride pledge allegiance to the Lady of Light,' the black cat, similar in DG's mind to a panther, purred in response. 

Not to be outdone, the alpha of the wolves sat back on his haunches. 'The wolf pack pledges allegiance to the Lady of Light,' he growled. 'We serve willingly, Lady, and await your instructions.'

Her first instinct was to order them all – animal and human and Viewer – to make themselves scarce so she and Wyatt could continue what they'd started what felt like a lifetime ago but the shell-shocked expression on her father's face told her that was a luxury she couldn't afford.

"Now we're all friends, let's go and discuss what everyone knows so we can decide a course of action," DG said instead. She led the way into the tent she'd been using, confident that the others would follow.

***

He stood back and watched as Ahamo, Jeb, Raw and the O.Z.'s kin told her what they knew. He watched the emotions play over her face - the surprise, the devastation and the determination – and felt proud that she was his.

That she had chosen him.

She listened to everyone regardless of whether they were man, animal or a mix of both. She was respectful, considerate and paid attention to every opinion, every idea that was presented to her. 

Watching her, Cain was confident she'd rise to whatever challenges being Lady of Light threw at her and found himself wondering if she'd accept the challenge of the throne, too.

"Jeb, Dad, take the Guard and the felines back to Central City. Fight only if you must." She frowned as the wolves description of the men they'd seen travelling towards the city on the will formed in her mind. "If the Longcoats are there when you arrive, or turn up later, you are to keep them from hurting our people. Killing should be your last resort but I trust you to decide what is necessary. If you can get into the palace, you are to capture the Queen. Do not harm her." Steel laced her voice. "She is not to be hurt in any way. The Witch may have possession of her body but I have to believe my mother is still there, fighting her."

'Your mother fights, Lady.' The voice came from outside of the tent, outside of the camp. It was the old, wise voice she remembered, the owner of the dark eyes she'd seen. 'She agreed to release you so we could save you both. So you could live to defeat the evil that lives within.'

"Good to know," DG muttered, clearing her throat. She glanced in Cain's direction for a brief moment as if to check he was still there. "As for my sister, the emerald and the Blood Mountains..." She exhaled slowly. "Raw, Wyatt, myself and the wolves will go. If we don't get there in time to stop this Amara woman from getting her hands on the emerald... We'll join you in Central City and take them both on together."

It didn't escape his notice that she'd started calling him by his given name. Didn't think it had escaped his son's notice, either, or her father's. 

"This Amara." It was the first time he'd spoken since the briefing had begun. "Does anyone know who she is? Other than being the daughter of Mombi, who again no one remembers?" He addressed his question to the O.Z. kin, knowing the others present wouldn't be able to answer him. "It would help if we knew what we were up against."

'There is one who would know,' the grey wolf began.

'One who is old enough to remember,' the black cat concurred.

'You can find him on your way to the Blood Mountains,' they spoke together.

'He is wise...'

'He has seen much...'

'He knows more.'

'He has answers...'

'Where others have questions.'

'He is father.'

'Friend.'

'He is O.Z.'

The reverence in which the animals spoke lingered in the room. Cain watched DG carefully, watching the realisation dawn on her. She bit her lip, looking from wolf to cat and back again. "Where can I find him."

'The kin will guide you,' the black cat told her, looking to the wolf, who nodded his head.

'We will take you to him,' the wolf agreed. 'But we must leave now. There is much ground to be covered, much to be accomplished.'

"Then let's go." DG squared her shoulders and glanced around the room. "We all know where we need to be, what we need to do. Glinda willing, we'll all live through whatever comes next."

***

With their destination revealed, Calletta derived a twisted pleasure in removing the blinds covering the windows of the carriage. He watched their reactions as much as he did the passing scenery, taking satisfaction in their growing apprehension.

Knowing he was watching, Glitch did his best to keep his face from betraying his thoughts. He summoned the knowledge and experience Ambrose had from his days at court to keep his expression carefully neutral. His other self lurked at the back of his mind, helping him keep calm as Azkadellia's fingernails dung into the flesh of his hand.

The forest they passed through was dark, unfamiliar. The trees were gnarled and twisted, devoid of leaves and sign of life. The light of the twin suns didn't seem to be able to reach them, blocked out by the ominous formation of rocks that loomed on the horizon.

Blood Mountain.

He'd never been there, never had cause to travel to the mountains said by many to be cursed. Looking up at the mountain, Glitch found himself comparing it with the Witch's tower. While one was a natural phenomenon and the other created (and destroyed) by man and magic, they both seemed to be surrounded by a sense of evil, a dark cruelty permeating the air around them that cause the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. 

His instincts screamed at him to leave, to protect the Princess and get her as far away as possible. There was evil in this place, danger, and he had a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that once they got to where they were going, there'd be no turning back.

There'd be no escape.

His clever mind was working overtime but still no plan came to him. No way of getting himself and Azkadellia away from the Blood Mountain – away from Calletta – and back to the relative safety of Central City.

Though... given what Calletta had said about the Queen... Glitch bit back a sigh and wished, not for the first time, that they had some idea of where DG was. He wished he had Raw's gift of being able to sense her, of being able to use the connection between the sister's to help Azkadellia get a sense of the younger princess's whereabouts.

As they approached the mountain, Glitch expected the carriage to slow down. It was his turn to grip Azkadellia's hand when it didn't.

"Ah, shouldn't the driver be stopping?" He craned his neck, swallowing at the sight of rapidly approaching rock. "We're going too fast to stop in time."

Lord Calletta merely smirked at him. "We'll be perfectly fine, my dear Lord Ambrose."

Glitch didn't respond to the formal title – though Ambrose, sensing there was some sort of insult behind it, bristled. "We won't be perfectly fine if we hit the mountain. A carriage of this size travelling at great velocity would mean..."

He lost the ability to speak as the front of the carriage met the side of the mountain... and passed straight through it. Glitch gaped wordlessly as Azkadellia shuddered and Calletta sat back in his seat, satisfaction on his face.

"What was...?"

"Magic." Azkadellia pressed against him, her brown eyes large with fear and apprehension. "Dark magic. Old. It... It reminds me of the Witch but... It feels so similar to hers but it's different somehow..."

"Perceptive." Calletta almost appeared approving. "My mistress will be impressed."

"Your mistress?" The carriage began to slow down. "Who would that be?"

Lord Calletta didn't answer straight away. The carriage came to a gradual stop and the driver, one of Calletta's men, stepped down to open the door. Calletta got out first and they heard the low murmur of voices he was greeted by someone.

Sharing wary glances, Glitch preceded Azkadellia out of the carriage, keeping himself between the Princess and the others gathered in what looked to be a cavernous entrance hall carved out of the inside of the mountain itself.

A woman stood beside Calletta. She had pale skin, long black hair and green eyes that were fixated on the eldest Princess the moment she appeared. "I am Amara, daughter of Mombi," she greeted them, her voice bouncing off the smooth walls of the room. She waited a moment, as if expecting either of them to recognise the names. When they didn't, her green eyes narrowed. "Welcome to my home, Azkadellia Gale. I am pleased to see your beauty has not been exaggerated."

"I'd say thank you but I'm not sure that's a compliment." Azkadellia's hand moved to grip Glitch's once more. "Who are you?"

"I've already introduced myself." Amara took a step closer, the masses of material of her dark red gown swishing around her legs. "You have something I want, Princess. Two things, but I'll collect the second later."

"I have nothing for you." Azkadellia took a step back as Amara continued to approach. "I don't know why you brought us here..."

Amara's lips curled up in a smile that made Glitch tense. He started to move in front of Azkadellia, to shield her from view, only to find himself suddenly frozen. Beside him, Azkadellia gasped, his name escaping her in a horrified cry.

"Glitch! No! What... What have you done...?" 

He didn't feel her hand slip from his but could suddenly no longer feel it. He managed to glance down at his feet, only to balk when he saw not the worn leather boots he was expecting but smooth grey stone instead.

"What...?" His voice was strangled, the cold sensation spreading up from his feet to his chest, higher. "I don't..."

"Ah, ah, ah." Amara gave him a sweet smile. "Close your mouth, Lord Ambrose. I find gaping statues to be quite unsightly. I'd rather keep you in my collection than have to have you destroyed."

He couldn't ask what she meant by that; the coldness reached the top of his head and he found himself encased in stone. He could hear and see, which was torturous to him as he couldn't so much as blink an eye when Amara reached around him to grab Azkadellia's arm.

"No more games. I will have what is mine." Amara's nails dug in to the flesh of Azkadellia's arm, making her cry out. "Give me the emerald, Azkadellia. Give me what is rightfully mine."

Even as Azkadellia protested and tried to pull away, the woman reached for the silver chain that hung around the elder Princess's neck. Glitch could only watch as the emerald was tugged out from under the material of Azkadellia's dress.

Amara's eyes focused on it immediately, and the stone began to glow as she other woman wrapped her slender fingers around it. With a yank, the chain snapped and the emerald was free. Amara pushed Azkadellia to the ground, oblivious to the cry of pain that escaped the princess when she landed on her wrist.

"At last." Amara stroked the surface of the stone with a fingertip, her smile triumphant. "I finally have it. Mother would be so proud."

"That's not yours." Azkadellia glared at Amara from her place on the floor. "The emerald belongs to the House of Gale."

"The stone is worthless. A pretty little trinket used to store what was taken from my mother hundreds of years ago." Amara's eyes flashed indignantly. Her fingers closed around the stone in a fist and she lifted it to her lips. She kissed the surface lightly before throwing it to the ground even as Azkadellia cried out.

As Glitch watched from his prison of stone, the gem shattered when as it hit the floor. Shards of emerald scattered across the dark floor like broken glass while a green mist rose from the heart of it, swirling through the air until it enveloped Amara completely.

The witch threw back her head and laughed, her green eyes shining with an unnatural vibrancy. The mist that had surrounded her slowly began to seep into her as she welcomed it.

Not mist, Ambrose corrected, magic.

Dark, evil magic – the likes of which could never have truly belonged to the House of Gale.

***

They agreed to stay at camp until the following morning, giving Ahamo time to adjust to what he'd learned and Cain time to spend with his son before they went their separate ways again.

DG spent most of the afternoon with her father, reassuring him that she would find a way to save her mother. Her magic was at least twice as strong as it had been when she'd helped saved Azkadellia and she was confident she'd be able to save her mother, too.

At least she tried to sound confident. The voices of the O.Z. kin whispering constantly in her mind assured her they'd help – but reminded her she needed to stay true to her word and serve them first by dealing with the threat building at the Blood Mountain. They considered that to be a greater danger than the remnants of the Witch that lingered in her mother and DG wasn't sure what to make of that. The Witch was bad enough; she didn't want to imagine anything worse.

Only after her father was asleep – with help from Raw, who promised to sit with him – did DG venture back to the tent that had been designated as hers. The cats had melted back into the forest from which they'd came but the wolves had refused to do the same; they'd taken up defensive positions around her tent with the alpha himself constantly shadowing her.

"Would you mind staying out here?" DG asked, addressing the grey wolf as she would any other bodyguard she'd been assigned. "I could use some time alone, to try and get my thoughts in some kind of order."

'You should rest,' the wolf rumbled an answer. 'Tomorrow's journey will be long.'

"I'll try." She resisted the urge to stroke the wolf, reminding himself that although he was a friend, he was also a wild animal and not a pet. "Thank you for your help with this. I have a feeling we'll need it."

She disappeared into the tent before the wolf could comment, walking to the cot at the far side. She sat down and started unfastening the laces of the boots Jeb insisted she wear and wished, not for the first time, she'd been wearing her sneakers when Calletta – or the Witch – had tried to have her executed.

"I wonder..." As the thought formed in her head, DG closed her eyes. She held her hand over the discarded boots and focused, imagining she was holding her hand above her sneakers instead. She felt her palm grow warm, felt the magic rise inside it. It wasn't the rapid release of forced magic she was used to. Instead, it was a slow and easy swell of magic that seemed to flow from somewhere deep inside her.

When she opened her eyes, the well-word sneakers that had travelled with her to the O.Z. were on the floor in place of the military boots. She wiggled on the cot in a little happy dance before closing her eyes and focusing again. This time, she pictured the comfortable jeans she'd hidden in the back of her closet and the light blue top she'd managed to get the royal seamstress to make her before Calletta's people had arrived. To top off the ensemble, she added the leather jacket her mother had begrudgingly agreed she could keep and felt the warmth in her palm spread throughout her body.

Even before she looked, she knew it had worked. The scratchy collar of the shirt she'd been wearing was no longer irritating her. She opened her eyes at the sound of quiet applause, arching an eyebrow at Cain where he stood just inside of the tent.

"Enjoy the show?" She asked softly, still trying to convince herself she could believe her eyes and accept he was standing in front of her.

"I'm impressed," Cain admitted, walking towards her slowly. "Though from what Jeb said, I missed quite a light display."

"It wasn't as spectacular as he describes from where I was standing. Not visually, anyway." The sensation of being filled so completely by her light had been a good one, though. Amazing, incredible, mind-blowing... "There's still a part of me that doesn't believe you're here."

"Likewise." When he was stood in front of her, he held out a hand. Smiled when she took it without hesitation and let him pull her to her feet. "Maybe there's something we can do to convince ourselves."

Her heart skipped giddily in her chest and she beamed up at him. "Maybe there is."

He wrapped his arms around her waist as she wound hers around his neck. Lifting her face, DG closed her eyes as his lips brushed hers, a sigh escaping her before he deepened the kiss, pressing her closer with a firm hand against the small of her back. He kept the kiss slow and thorough, taking his time to reacquaint himself with her when she would've expected their reunion to be a heated, passionate encounter that was both fast and furious. Instead, it was sweet, tender, an affirmation of the feelings they'd declared for one another before he'd been taken from her.

When they parted, he let his forehead rest against hers and stilled the hand she'd moved to toy with the top button of his shirt. 

"Not here, Deege. Not like this." His voice was quiet, his gaze intense. "When we're together, I want to take my time with you. Not be distracted knowing we could be overheard."

She was both disappointed and touched by the sentiment. She understood it, too. With a sigh of agreement, she shifted to steal a light kiss from him, marvelling at how natural – how right – it felt. "I'll hold you to that, Tin Man."

"Sure you will, Darlin'." Still, he kept his arms around her as they sat down on the cot. Kept them around her as they manoeuvred themselves so they were lying down wrapped up in each other.

"I thought they'd kill you," DG admitted after a long pause. Her face was pressed against his chest, his fingers running through her hair. "I thought if we left without you, I'd come back and you'd be gone."

Cain thought about Calletta's interrogation, about the whip that had sliced through the skin of his back without hesitation. "I think I would've been, if not for the O.Z. and Delcor."

She lifted her head form his chest to look at him. "If Delcor's one of the good guys, what was he doing in my rooms?"

"He said he wanted to destroy the emerald before Amara could get it. My guess is he was looking for it in your suite." He ran a hand along her spine to soothe her. "Would've been easier if he'd told us from the start what was going on."

"Probably had to keep Calletta's trust," DG murmured, lowering her head to his chest again. "Though I wish I knew what he was, what kind of magic he has. It feels familiar but different. Not bad different," she added, remembering the magic woven with her own on the door at the palace. "Not evil. But it's familiar, and I can't put my finger on why."

"Don't dwell on it." He dropped a kiss to the top of her head. "Maybe you'll get answers tomorrow when the wolves take us to the wise one, whoever that is."

"Answers would be good." She snuggled closer, her voice sounding sleepy. "I've got a whole lot of questions."

***

To taunt her unwilling guests, Amara had Azkadellia and Glitch put in the same room. Azkadellia tried to free him using every ounce of magic she had at her disposal to break through the stone holding him prisoner but nothing she did worked. As night fell, the exhausted princess collapsed on the floor at his stone feet, weeping with frustration and fear.

"I'm sorry, Glitch. I'm so, so sorry. I got you into this. I'm sorry I let her get the emerald, that I failed to keep it safe. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Glitch watched, unable to comment, unable to comfort, wishing his heart had been turned to stone like the rest of him.

When the moons rose, Amara returned, sweeping into the room with a cool grace. She barely cast a glance at Glitch, focusing instead on Azkadellia. 

"You shouldn't waste your tears, Princess. You'll mar that pretty little face of yours." Amara didn't turn to acknowledge Calletta as he entered the room, followed as always by at least three of his faithful supporters.

"You seem very concerned with my appearance," Azkadellia managed, her own voice icy. "Since I'm sure you plan on killing me, I'm not sure why that would be."

Amara laughed. "I'm not going to kill you, Azkadellia. That would be a waste. Besides, if the O.Z. is to be mine, I have need of you. Part of you, anyway."

"The O.Z. will never be yours." Azkadellia got to her feet, her hands clenched at her sides. "Do what you will to me but my sister will not allow you or any other witch take control of our realm."

"Your little sister is as good as dead." Amara's smile was without sincerity. "Even now, my aunt's men scour the forests for her. They have orders to kill her on sight."

Behind Amara, Calletta gave a small start of surprise. His brow furrowed as he cleared his throat and opened his mouth. "Ah, mistress...? The orders given to the longcoats by your aunt..."

"Were overridden by mine," Amara finished. A flash of irritation passed over her features at the interruption. "My aunt had her chance and failed. This is my time now and the O.Z. and all within it will bend to my will."

"Never," Az declared, shaking her head vehemently. "Already the people in Central City rise up against those who would break them. If you attempt to take the throne..."

"They'll think nothing of it," Amara cut in, a pleased expression arranging her features. "Why would they question it when what they'll see is the eldest princess taking the throne after the unfortunate, tragic deaths of both her mother and sister?"

"I don't..." Even as she spoke, Azkadellia shrank back. "You have your own body. You're not going to possess me. I won't allow it. Not again, never again."

"Relax, my dear," Amara crooned. "It isn't your body I'm after, Princess. Just part of it." With the flick of her wrist, the room around them lit up and the walls suddenly didn't look like walls. Glass cabinets emerged from them instead, lining the room all around them.

Azkadellia gasped as the doors to those glass cabinets cleared enough to reveal what was inside them.

Heads. At least a dozen, maybe more.

"So you see, my dear, it's not your body I'm interested in. Just your head." Amara smiled as the heads in the glass cabinets turned as one at the sound of her voice. "And what a pretty addition it'll make, too."

Azkadellia could only stare in horror at the heads staring back at her and send up a desperate prayer that hers wouldn't end up among them.

***

Even the chill that accompanied the darkening of the skies couldn't ruin his pleasure at being outside. After only a few months of being trapped inside a suit, Zero had a whole new level of respect for them – and a grudging sense of frustrated awe at how well some people seemed to have coped at being locked up inside of one for annuals.

Not that he'd ever say that to anyone, or that it would stop him from achieving his goal.

Wyatt Cain had put him in the damned suit to begin with, and Wyatt Cain was gonna suffer for it. It didn't matter to Zero that he'd done the same thing to his former friend, or that Cain had been inside the iron maiden for a lot longer.

It mattered that he'd been caught in the first place and, as a result, that he'd missed the final showdown at the double eclipse.

Ego and the Witch's words told him his absence played a part in her defeat; he was her right hand man, she'd told him soothingly, her most loyal servant. Without him, she'd been vulnerable, unprotected.

Defeated.

Now she was back, in a new body, with a new plan Zero liked the sound of.

Only problem was she wasn't the only dark mistress in town, and he had a bit of a dilemma on his hands as to which of them stood a better chance at giving him the kind of future he wanted – the power and the riches and the standing he deserved.

Amara had assured him all that and more – on the condition that he disobey the Sorceress and follow her agenda. She would be stronger, she'd promised, than the Sorceress could ever hope to be after the Witch's confrontation with the Gale sisters had left her weak. Amara would be the most powerful witch the O.Z. had ever known – and, with her ability to wear any head she had in her collection, would be able to take the throne without alarming the people.

She'd filled his head with promises and images of a world in which he would rule at her side and he'd left the Blood Mountains convinced that his place was with her. 

That certainty had lasted until he'd fought his way through the crowds of people outside the Central City Palace and had been welcomed by his former leader in her new body. The Witch, as the Queen, had immediately taken him into her confidence, telling him of her plans and knowing him well enough to promise him the greatest reward he could have asked for: a chance to hurt the Tin Man by taking what he cared about most of all.

The Witch, in the Queen's body, had promised him not only a chance to get even with the princess who'd ruined both of their plans in the first place but had given him the means to break Wyatt Cain. 

He'd known, even before the double eclipse, that there was something between the youngest princess and Cain. He'd seen it in the way the ever-noble former Tin Man had stayed at her side, determined to fight with her and protect her, even after learning that his beloved wife was dead. 

If he was honest with himself, Zero had been expecting the confirmation of Adora's death to be Cain's downfall – especially after he'd given him false hope that she might still be alive. Though he'd expected Cain's life to end when he'd fallen out of the glass window and into the icy lake, Zero had taken great satisfaction in hearing the hope in his voice at the thought that his precious Adora and son were alive. Having discovered Cain had survived the fall, Zero had believed that learning his wife was dead would be enough to finish him off.

When he'd seen Cain at the resistance's camp and overheard the concern in his voice as he'd caught his son up to speed on what had happened and insisted that their priority needed to be finding Princess DG, Zero had realised there was something else the Tin Man was living for.

Someone else, asides from the son he'd been reunited with.

In the suit with only his thoughts for company, Zero had found himself coming up with as many ways as possible to get even with the man responsible for his incarceration – creative, painful, bloody ways that had only just managed to help him hold onto to what was left of his sanity.

Within hours of being reunited with her, the Witch had offered him another way, one he wasn't sure he could turn down.

He'd left the palace with a handful of men – loyal Longcoats he knew would follow the Witch to the death – and was trying to decide which way he should play it. The Witch had earned his loyalty in one way by seeing to it that he was released from the suit but Amara had taken him into her confidence by telling him of her plans and asking him to betray the evil he'd served for so long. Amara offered him a place in history, a position of great importance should her plans come to fruition... The Witch offered him a slightly less important position but a way of settling the score with Wyatt Cain once and for all.

Staring up at the night sky as the stars began to appear the moons began their ascent, his mouth quirked up in a twisted grin as he made his choice.

***

The wolves seemed to melt into the trees, blending with the shadows and surrounding the three travellers who made their way slowly along paths strewn with unearthed roots and branches hanging dangerously at eye-level. 

"If the O.Z. kin are more than just wolves and cats, why haven't I heard from anything else?" DG addressed the question to the Viewer on her right, while glancing quickly at the man on her left whose hand accidentally brushed hers every so often as they walked. 

Raw looked thoughtful for a moment. He considered the conversation he'd had with the tree near Central City and realised he hadn't heard any other tree since. "Kin will still be awaking across O.Z. Kin have slept for so long, DG. Many years passed since people of O.Z. remembered to listen."

"What do you mean when you say they've been asleep?" DG almost tripped over an exposed tree root as she looked at Raw, flashing Cain a grateful smile when his quick reflexes saved her from landing on her face. "Do you mean they've been hibernating for all this time or...?"

"Kin have been silent. Stopped speaking. Some forgot how. Animals regressed, trees and land went to sleep." Raw reached out to pat her arm consolingly. "Waking now, thanks to DG. Must not feel bad. Didn't know, couldn't help. As Lady, DG an heal O.Z. and unite all kin."

DG balked a little, the responsibility of the task before her weighing heavily on her shoulders. "But if the Witch hadn't been released in the first place, maybe they'd all have woken up sooner. If my mother had kept her light and I'd been able to claim my own as a child..."

"Shouldn't dwell on past. Can't change what is done. Can only change what is to come." Raw's words were tinged with confidence, his faith in her both touching and terrifying.

"If it weren't for me, the Witch would never have been freed. She wouldn't have possessed Az, destroyed half of the O.Z., possessed my mother... She wouldn't have been able to help this Amara make plans to take over the realm." DG sighed, her frustration evident. "I just wish she could've stayed dead."

"We all do, Princess." Cain's hand found hers and squeezed. "But you've gotta tell yourself that everything happens for a reason. If the Witch wasn't freed, the three of us wouldn't be standing here. And there's no tellin' what would've happened with Amara if the Witch had stayed trapped. Sounds to me like she'd have made an appearance sooner or later, either in our lifetime or the next."

She wasn't sure if it was the thought of having never met Wyatt and Raw or if it was the thought of any child she might have having to face such evil that made her shudder. Tightening her fingers around those of her Tin Man, she decided it was probably both. "I know you're right but I wish... Uniting the O.Z. kin and the people sounds hard enough, with so many unable or unwilling to hear them. Having to do it now when the people have such a good reason not to trust the kin seems almost impossible."

"Think that's where you come into it, Deege." His tone was sympathetic, his expression proud. "As Lady of Light, you get to represent the kin in front of the people. They'll trust you because of what you've done for them and because of who you are. My guess is that's one of the reasons you were chosen for this in the first place, because you're the only one who can do the impossible and unite the O.Z. in ways it hasn't been for centuries."

'Guardian is wise. The Lady has chosen well.'

The ancient voice made all three of them pause. Only the disapproving yip of a wolf behind them had them moving forward again. Closer, DG thought, to the owner of that voice.

"How many of the kin are waiting until I'm able to do that?" She wondered aloud. "How many won't speak until they know it's safe?"

'Many,' the voice replied, a touch of amusement in its voice. 'The O.Z. is home to many creatures, Lady. Maybe who are believed to exist no longer.' The three were shepherded into a clearing, in which the largest, oldest tree DG could ever remember seeing stood proudly in the centre. As she stared up at it in awe, its leaves parted to reveal what looked like a face formed out of gnarled wood. A thick branch appeared and was lowered almost to the ground. 'But that is not what you're here to discuss, little princess. You wish to speak to me about the ancient one, Amara, and her mother, Mombi.'

Unable to argue, DG approached the lowered branch. As she did, the wolves entered the clearing, each animal taking a defensive position around the old tree. Raw and Cain lingered behind her, the latter instinctively moving a hand to his pistol.

Alone, DG perched gently on the thick branch and immediately found herself being lifted into the leafy sky above.

***

Central City was a mass of smoke and flames. Jeb clenched his jaw and marched on, motioning silently for members of his troop to help with the injured they passed on their way to the palace.

"What happened here?" Ahamo was aghast as he walked beside him, the Prince-Consort's pallor growing worse with every step. "We were only here yesterday..."

They didn't get an answer until they made it almost to the front gates of the palace. They were only a street away when the black cat that had gone on ahead returned to the group, a low hiss escaping it in warning.

'Men in black leather,' the cat said with a growl. 'Dangerous men, enemies to our Lady. They stand in front of the palace gates, barring our way.'

"Longcoats." The betrayal Jeb had felt at the revelation of what had happened to the enemies he and his men had arrested came back to him with a jolt. "Are they attacking the castle or defending it?"

'Defending,' the cat replied. 'Any who try to gain entrance are dealt with swiftly.'

"Why would anyone try to take on the longcoats to get entry to the palace?" The question came from one of his men, a tall man who'd served well.

"To save the Queen," Jeb answered grimly. "They people still think Calletta is behind this. They don't realise the Witch is back."

"We can't tell them," Ahamo grasped Jeb's arm in a painful vice. "If they learn another member of the Royal family was possessed, they'll never have faith in the Gale name again."

"Should they?" Who asked the question, Jeb wasn't sure. He glanced in the general direction of the voice and saw out of the corner of his eye one of the cats slip between the legs of his men to find the voice's owner. "They failed us. Again."

"We fight for Princess DG and the House of Gale." Jeb's tone left no room for argument. "Anyone who feels they aren't worthy can leave now." He waited a moment, pleased – and relieved – when no one did. "The palace is out goal. We are to retake it and hold all of those inside until it can be determined whether they're with us or against us."

"That includes the Queen." Ahamo's skin appeared clammy, his eyes panicked. "She can't be harmed. It's not Lavender's fault. She shouldn't be punished..."

"She won't be." Jeb tried to keep his voice firm but reassuring. Inwardly, he cursed himself for not insisting the Prince-Consort stay with his daughter. Reminding himself that the quivering man before him was once the Seeker, a cunning and sneaky man the Sorceress had spent annuals searching for, Jeb's blue eyes narrowed. "You know the palace better than anywhere, Ahamo. You know all of the ways a man can get into it."

Even as he spoke, Jeb could see Ahamo's gaze sharpen, the colour returning slowly to his cheeks as he was given something to focus on. "I studied the blue prints," Ahamo agreed. "I looked at them again more recently, hoping to find a way to help DG sneak out undetected."

"Then you can help us sneak in," Jeb interrupted, refusing to let the older man dwell on why he'd been looking for ways to get his youngest daughter out of the palace. He clapped Ahamo on the shoulder in a show of manly confidence. "We need to get in, subdue everyone inside. Secure them somewhere safe," he added when Ahamo looked like he was about to protest. "The sooner we get the Queen some place the Witch can't hurt anyone until DG gets here, the better. For all of us."

Ahamo's shoulders tensed and he nodded, his expression determined. Jeb watched the transformation from Prince-Consort to Seeker and bit back a sigh of relief. 

***

She couldn't see the ground anymore, or Cain or Raw, but DG wasn't concerned. It was hard to e, when she found herself staring into eyes that were very familiar.

"You're the one who spoke through the mirror," she murmured, lifting one hand form its death grip on the branch to shift so she could see the face in the tree trunk better. "You're the oldest of the kin?"

'I am. I was but a seedling when the O.Z. began. I have watched the seasons come and go countless times. I have borne witness to the constant struggle between the light and the dark.'

"So you remember Mombi, Amara, and the Witch." DG bit down on her bottom lip. "You'll have known the last Lady of Light. You'll know what's expected of me, what I need to do."

'I do, but it is not my place to instruct you, Princess DG, Lady of Light to the O.Z. kin and the people of the realm. You have come to me for information relating to Amara.' The tree sounded almost regretful but continued on regardless. 'To learn about the evil you now face, you must first look back to the past, to the time of the first slipper from the Otherside.'

"Dorothy Gale," DG breathed. "My greatest grandmother."

'The very one.' The tree seemed to sigh. 'Though without magic of her own, Dorothy Gale did the people of the O.Z. a great service when she arrived in our lands. She killed the Wicked Witch of the East, a tyrant who enslaved the munchkins and used her dark magic to make them do terrible, terrible things.'

Thinking of the munchkins and their first response to her, DG thought she could almost understand their distrust of all things magic. "How many evil witches are there? Or where there, if the Witch of the East was killed?"

'At one time, there were four sisters. The Wicked Witch of the South was defeated by a good witch called Lurline, who became representative for that region. The Wicked Witch of the North was defeated by Glinda.'

"Glinda as in the goddess Glinda?"

'The very same.' The tree sounded pleased she'd made the connection. 'What few know is that the Wicked Witch of the East had two daughters before she was killed. They went into hiding when Dorothy's house, brought to the O.Z. by a rogue travel storm, landed on their mother.'

"What happened to them? And the Wicked Witch of the West?"

'The Wicked Witch of the West was also killed by Dorothy before she left our lands for the first time. With guidance from Glinda and assistance from three companions, the young Othersider was able to defeat the evil that ruled over the O.Z., freeing the kin and people alike, earning the love and adoration of all. Dorothy Gale left us to return to her home in Kansas.'

"With the Witches gone, who ruled the O.Z.?" DG asked softly, not wanting to interrupt but needing to complete the picture in her head. "If Dorothy didn't stay..."

'The Lady Ozma, Queen of the Fairies. For annuals, she ruled both the O.Z. and the fairy realm until Mombi, eldest daughter of the Wicked Witch of the Easy, came out of hiding and allied herself with the Gnome King. Ozma became Mombi's prisoner and many annuals past until Dorothy Gale returned and was able to defeat both Mombi and the Gnome King.'

"Is that when Dorothy chose to stay?" DG tilted her head to one side thoughtfully. "Was that when she became queen?"

The branches above her shook their leaves in the negative. 'The first Dorothy Gale was never Queen of the O.Z. The complete records were lost, replaced by hearsay. Dorothy Gale left and Queen Ozma retook the throne."

"I don't understand." DG's brow furrowed. "I was always told Dorothy Gale was the first Queen of my bloodline."

'She was. Dorothy the first returned some years later. She chose to stay in the O.Z. after falling in love with a powerful wizard, a mage who went by the name of Carrick Sythe. They had a daughter, Evelyn, and were regular visitors to the palace, where Queen Ozma lived with her husband, Alvis, and their son, Prince Riordan. It surprised no one when Prince Riordan and the lady Evelyn were married and had two daughters. One, Princess Adeleine, became Queen of the Fairies. The other, named after her maternal grandmother, Dorothy Gale, became Queen of the O.Z.'

DG sat in silence, stunned for several moments. She opened her mouth to speak only to close it again, her thoughts whirling far too fast for her to pick just one to focus on.

'Strong magic runs in your blood, little princess. On one side, the blood of the wizard Carrick runs in your veins. On the other, the blood of the great fairy Queen and one of the strongest witches that the O.Z. has ever known, Queen Ozma. You are destined to bring much light to the lands of the O.Z., Lady. As will those of your blood who come after you.'

"Wow. So. I'm a descendant of Ozma? Really?" DG blinked owlishly. "When Tutor told me about her, he made it sound like she was some mythical character. Part of me thought she wasn't really real and now you're telling me we're related."

'Her gift is strong in you. You are more like your greatest grandmothers than you known.' The tree hesitated for a moment. 'Just as the witch Amara is like her mother and aunt.'

Remembering why she was there, DG pushed what she'd learned about her own family to the back of her mind. "What happened to Mombi? And her sister?"

'Mombi's sister is the witch that resides inside your mother's body. Her name is Alvah. She made an attempt to take over the O.Z. some annuals past when Queen Neale, grandmother to your mother, sat on the throne. She was banished to the cave in which you found her with the help of Queen Tiana of the fairies."

"And Mombi? What happened to her after Dorothy defeated her? Did she die?"

'Mombi was stripped of her powers by Ozma and Glinda. Her magic was strong, stronger than that of her sister. At Ozma's request, Glinda stored the magic taken from Mombi in an emerald so that its power could be used if needed.'

"The emerald of the eclipse," DG sighed heavily. "That's why Amara wants it."

'By now, it is surely in her possession,' the old tree agreed. 'Feeling responsible for taking Mombi's magic, Ozma vowed to take care of her and made sure she was provided for. Mombi married and had a child, Amara, who had a little magic of her own but was hungry for more. She underwent the ritual to regain her family's power to no avail due to it being locked in the emerald. She was imprisoned in the Blood Mountain by Queen Tiana of the fairies after her attempts at stealing the gem from the fairy realm, where Ozma had put it for safe keeping, were thwarted. There she has waited, unable to leave, until the emerald of the eclipse is in her hands.'

"So if we assume she has the emerald, we can assume she has Mombi's powers, which means she can leave the Blood Mountain and launch an attack on Central City." DG shifted impatiently on the branch. "I should go to Central City, try and stop her before she gets a chance to have a family reunion with her aunt."

'You cannot.' The three's voice was a warning. 'You must journey to the Blood Mountain. A message awaits you there, and a gift from those who have come before. Without it, you will be unable to defeat Amara.'

"But Azkadellia..." DG broke off with a shudder, shaking her head against the image that formed in her mind – a memory from a nightmare featuring her sister's head and a blood red pillow. "I can't let Amara hurt her. I promised myself I'd keep her safe."

'The only way to save your sister and all else you love is to go to the Blood Mountain.'

DG was left with no doubts that the discussion was over as the branch she was sitting on was lowered to the ground, the face she'd been conversing with disappearing from view. She took a moment to regain her equilibrium before moving to her feet, reaching out blindly for Cain's arm as he and Raw approached. "How much of that did you hear?"

"Not much." Cain's cool gaze was intense as he studied her with open concern. "You look shook up. What did it tell you, darlin'?"

"I'm not sure where to begin," DG admitted after a short pause. She tilted her head, giving Raw a speculative look. "You seem to know a lot about the kin, Raw. You don't happen to remember anything about a fairy realm, do you? And where it would be if it still existed?"

The befuddled expression on the Viewer's face answered the question for him.

'The knowledge you seek awaits you at the Blood Mountain.' The old voice rumbled through the clearing. 'Make haste, Lady. Amara travels towards Central City. You must hurry if you mean to stop her.'

"You can tell us everything on the way," Cain murmured, taking her arm to guide her away from the tree. Beside them, Raw nodded his agreement.

The witches moved from their motionless positions and all but one disappeared back into the woodland around them. The one who remained moved quickly to a disused trail on the opposite side of the clearing and cocked his head expectantly. 

Left with little choice, the Princess and her companions followed.

***

The trees and greenery withered into a dull brown as they got closer to the Blood Mountain. Even the wildlife disappeared, the near constant birdsong DG had come to associate with the O.Z. falling silent.

"Feels wrong," Raw murmured, unable to stifle a shudder as the wolves led them closer to the base of the mountain they could see looming above the tree line. "Strong magic, dark magic."

"The tree said Amara was already on her way to Central City." DG wasn't sure if she was trying to convince herself or Raw that the magic she could feel prickling across her skin was nothing to be overly worried about. "Whatever we feel is residual. She's not here now."

"Raw sense fear, sadness. Pain." The Viewer shook his head. "Bad place. Bad things happened here."

"Seems to me there's only a few places in the O.Z. where bad things haven't happened," DG muttered. A pang of guilt hit her. No matter what anyone said, she knew she'd always carry with her the burden of knowing she'd been the one to release the evil Witch in the first place. 

Beside her, Cain moved a little closer. His hand tightened around hers. "When this is over," he said in a low voice, "we'll see what we can do about replacing those bad memories with good ones."

Affection welled inside her and she gave him a sweet, shy smile in response. As the tips of Cain's ears turned red, a small grin played across Raw's face as the couple's emotions washed over him, acting as a cleansing balm against the dark stain left behind by evil.

All three clung to the warmth of those emotions as they came to a stop at the base of the mountain. DG craned her neck, her brow furrowing as she studied the rock formation in front of her.

"Do we have to climb...?" Even though she was wearing her trusty sneakers and jeans, she wasn't sure it was a challenge she could meet. At least not without professional climbing gear – or, better yet, she thought with a speculative glance at Cain, someone strong enough to drag/push/carry her as necessary.

'We've seen people walk in, Lady.' The Alpha of the wolves approached the trio. He stopped beside DG and looked between her and the mountain. 'They seem to disappear.'

"Disappear?" Cain took a step closer to the rocky surface. "Maybe there's a cave or tunnel somewhere..."

'None that we could see, Chosen,' the wolf said. 'We have searched but have found nothing.'

"Can you use your light, Deege? Maybe you can find something, a weakness in the rock face." Still scrutinising the mountain, Cain's brow furrowed. 

DG let her eyes close, summoning her light. It responded to her eagerly, like a puppy wanting to please its master, and the warmth of it made her smile in spite of the circumstances. She barely had to tell it what she wanted before it left her, sparks of brilliant golden light shooting out from her fingers. 

She opened her eyes and watched the little sparks dance over the wall of the mountain. She could feel them search, felt their excitement when one spark found something and the rest of them joined it en-masse. Melding into one, her magic pulsed with energy before expanding, growing too bright to look at.

Blinking to clear her vision, a slow triumphant grin spread over her face. An archway, glowing with the light of her magic, had appeared in the mountain's side. She looked at Raw, who smiled at her, and then at Cain, whose expression made her blush. She couldn't remember a time when someone had looked at her with so much pride, so much love.

'Lady's magic is strong.' There was a note of reverence in the wolf's voice. 'You must go now. Fine the message. We will wait for you here.'

DG had barely taken a step forward when she was joined by Cain and Raw, both men flanking her as they prepared to take the first step into the mountain and towards whatever waited for them inside.

***

It always took a while to get used to a new head. Amara regretted being unable to transport more of her extensive collection to Central City but consoled herself with the knowledge that they'd join her at the palace soon.

Finally. She would have what was rightfully hers, be where she was always destined to be.

The O.Z. was hers. It always should have been. Her mother was weak, she had accepted her fate far too easily, allowed the Gale bitches to strip her of the power that was rightfully theirs.

Hers.

Amara's upper lip curled up in a snarl as she stared at her reflection in the hand mirror. Azkadellia's image snarled back.

A noise almost like a whimper made her look up. Calletta shrank away from her, away from the glass box on the carriage seat beside him. She looked at it and met her own gaze, smirking when her head – her true head - rolled her eyes at the Lord's reaction. He'd served her well enough but his usefulness was nearing its end.

She had need of him yet, which was the only reason she used her magic to conjure up a black velvet throw and draped it over the glass case beside him. Calletta barely relaxed, staring at her with undisguised horror.

"What is it, my Lord?" Even her voice was no longer her own, the low purr that of the Gale bitch instead. "You're acting like you don't know me. As though you can't trust me to take care of you." When he didn't answer and instead seemed to grow paler as she addressed him, Amara smiled sweetly. "Haven't I always taken care of you, Mikol? When you came to me, to my mountain, half-starved and in fear for your life... Was it not I who gave you food and shelter? A home where you could hide safely from my aunt's cruel hand?"

"I've never... You've never... Not in front of me." Calletta looked and sounded as though he was about to throw up. He'd known she could change her appearance, knew she could change her heads... but he'd never before considered how she did it - or where those heads came from. And he'd certainly never seen her... do that... to a living person.

A living, breathing, screaming Princess of the Realm he'd led straight to her...

Calletta swallowed reflexively, fighting the bile rising in his throat.

Amara laughed, amused by his discomfort. "I don't expect it's something you will need to worry about witnessing again, my Lord Calletta. You can forget all about it now," she added soothingly, the dark eyes of the eldest princess dancing with wicked mirth. "What's done is done and shall not need to be repeated."

His eyes darted from her to the glass case beside him. "Is she...? Is the Princess Azkadellia dead? You have her face, her body but..."

"Her body lives as long as I live." Amara lifted a hand to the emerald around her neck. "Not that she'll ever need it again. Without a head, it would be most grotesque."

The woman opposite him smirked sardonically, leaving the repulsed Lord to sink down into his seat.

***

It didn't take long once they were inside the mountain to realise they were walking through more than a series of connecting caves. The floor, barely visible in the dim light from the mountain's entrance, was smooth and shiny, as were the walls around them. From her position flanked by both Cain and Raw, DG stopped in the middle of the first cavernous room, closing her eyes as she took a deep, calming breath.

She felt the light inside her respond immediately, surging to the surface as it awaited her command. She barely had to think about what she wanted before it left her, filling the darkness with a number of glowing balls of pure light.

Beside her, Raw gasped and Cain started. She felt them both glance at her as they took in their surroundings and the light display making it easier to see.

"Impressive, Deege," Cain murmured, a note of pride in his voice that warmed her and chased away the fleeting fear she felt at being able to manipulate her newly gifted magic so easily.

She flashed him a smile of thanks before focusing on their surroundings, blue gaze scanning the walls of the long hallway they were standing in. The floor was black marble with specs of silver and red that glinted in the light of her magic. The walls appeared to be comprised of floor to ceiling mirrors, all of which were ornately framed by an intricate design of spun gold and glimmering rubies.

Acting on instinct, DG led the way along the corridor, the soles of her sneakers making a hushed squeaking noise as she walked. Her heart beat unsteadily in her chest and her palms felt damp. She could feel the magic inside her searching, reacting to something she couldn't see or hear but was powerless to stop it. She opened her mouth to warn Cain and Raw but found she was unable to do anything but walk along the corridor and into the large room at the end of it.

She found herself in a throne room, very similar to that of the Central City Palace. If it weren't for the difference in colour scheme and the lack of a throne on a raised dais at the far end, she might have believed herself to be back in Central City.

"I don't recall hearing about another palace in these parts," Cain murmured, his voice full of suspicious wonderment. "Certainly looks familiar, though."

"Old," Raw chimed in. "Lost for centuries. Forgotten."

"Which makes it the perfect hideout for Amara." DG started to turn to leave the room when a flickering in a pane of glass behind the throne caught her attention. While her mind cried out a warning, her body continued on regardless. Trapped inside her own mind, DG was only dimly aware of the concerned questions from behind her, the blood racing through her veins at a dizzying speed as she reached the glass pane and reached out to it with an unwilling hand.

"DG!"

"Deege!"

Their voices faded as a flash of white light engulfed her, and her body was pulled through the glass.

***

There was no sign of her, no evidence to say she'd ever been there. Cain blinked away the dots of light clouding his vision, his pistol in his hand as he advanced towards the mirror. 

"Careful, Tin Man," Raw warned, but the caution was unheeded. 

Cain touched his fingertips to the glass, pressing his palm against it more firmly when nothing happened. He frowned, and lashed out with his foot, biting back a curse when his boot collided with nothing but solid glass. "DG! Damn it, DG!"

Raw put a hand on the distraught Tin Man's shoulder. "DG safe. Raw still sense her. Still here."  
Cain's icy glare turned to the Viewer. "I'm not seeing her, Furball, and if this place has been Amara's home for the last however many annuals, I'd hate to think what kind of traps she could've left behind."

"DG safe," Raw repeated knowingly, touching the mirrored glass with his other hand. "Will return to Tin Man." A troubled look passed over the Viewer's features and he broke away from the mirror, turning to stare at another doorway leading off from the large room. "Raw sense Glitch..."

Torn between going after him and waiting for DG, Cain re-holstered his pistol with a sigh. He cast another glance at the mirror, his palm resting against its smooth surface in a wordless promise before stalking after his furry friend.

It didn't take Raw long to find the trail of chaotic thoughts and emotions he associated with their scatter-brained friend, nor did it take them long to realise why he wasn't responding to their calls and shouts.

The Viewer stopped beside the stone statue, eyes narrowed as he stared at it solemnly. Sorrow lined his face as he reached out a furry hand and laid it on the cool, smooth shoulder of the unusually still man. "Glitch."

"Where? What...?" Cain glanced around for a moment before realising what Raw meant. He stared in disbelief, shaking his head, until he approached the statue, too. Its uncanny likeness to their missing friend was undeniable. "No."

"Raw sense magic. Dark, strong magic." His voice was a sombre whisper. "Glitch inside but fading. Magic too strong to keep fighting."

"So how do we get him out of it?" Without waiting for an answer, Cain took his pistol out of its holster again. "Can we just break it off him?"

Before Raw could answer, a wolf's howl echoed throughout the corridors of the palace. Even before he heard the Alpha's voice in his head, Cain was spinning towards the doorway, heart racing as adrenaline coursed through his veins.

'Beware, Lady's Chosen. Men in leather coats are here. Their leader wishes to hurt our Lady.'

"What does he look like?" Cain murmured, moving quickly and quietly to the doorway of the room. "Can you show me?"

His hand tightened around the handle of the gun, his jaw clenched painfully. The image of the longcoats leader filled his mind and he bit back a growl of his own.

Zero.

***

With Ahamo guiding them, they were able to use a series of hidden escape tunnels to get into the palace without being discovered by the Witch's guards. Their feline companions made taking out the guards inside the palace hallways much easier than it would have been without them – partly because there were a lot less longcoats inside the palace compared to how many there were protecting it from the outside and partly because those on duty weren't expecting to be attacked by four legged creatures with sharp teeth and claws.

"Where is the Witch?" Jeb demanded, holding a bleeding longcoat by the throat. 

The man, stunned by what had happened, could only splutter and choke incoherently, his wide eyes fixed on the large black cat watching him with a hungry gaze. "I-I-I..."

The cat released a low growl, baring its teeth.

"She-She went to her chambers. To relax. She's expecting a visitor. Her niece."

Jeb glanced over his shoulder to see Ahamo break way from the group and head in the direction of the Royal chambers. With a frustrated sigh, he jerked the longcoat away, pushing him roughly towards his second-in-command. "Take the prisoners to the dungeon and devise a rota for standing guard."

"Yes, Sir."

Turning on his heel, Jeb followed Ahamo along the corridor, hearing the soft padding of feline paws beside him as his men silently split into two groups.

'The Witch may not be so easy to subdue,' the cat's voice purred in his head. 'Especially if we are not permitted to hurt her.'

Jeb stifled a sigh. It would be much easier, he agreed internally, if he could just let the feline pride do what they did best but he had to keep reminding himself that the body the Witch currently possessed was that of his Queen – and DG's mother.

"The Witch has the form of your Lady's mother," Jeb reminded the cat in a low voice so Ahamo wouldn't overhear. "If any harm were to befall her, Princess DG would be unhappy to say the least."

The cat was silent but Jeb sensed her frustration was almost on par with his own. He looked around and realised they were almost at the Queen's private suite and quickened his pace to catch up with the Prince-Consort.

"We move fast and we move quietly," Jeb murmured as the small group of men who'd accompanied them in silence gathered just outside the doorway. "If she's resting, we may be able to catch her off-guard. If she's not... Do what you have to do to make sure no one gets hurt but remember that the enemy we're dealing with is also our Queen."

His men nodded solemnly, while Ahamo stared blankly at the door standing between him and his wife. Jeb bit back another sigh and moved into position. He waited for his men to do the same, knowing instinctively it was pointless trying to get the cats to fall in line. When he was satisfied they were as prepared as they were going to get, he gave the signal and opened the door.

***

It was carnage, utter carnage.

The longcoats surged into the hidden palace, weapons drawn and prepared to fight. What they weren't prepared for was the wolf pack that waited for them, eyes gleaming with hunger and hatred for those who would hurt their Lady of Light. 

Cain and Raw missed the initial bout of fighting and, after stumbling across what was left in its aftermath, even the battle-hardened Tin Man couldn't help but be a little relieved both to have missed it and that the wolf pack were on their side. Despite his sensitivity, Raw seemed more able to accept the carnage that lay on the ground in front of them than his more experienced companion. Cain wondered if it was something to do with the Viewer's own animal instincts but didn't have time to dwell on it further as a warning growl echoed throughout the room just seconds before he felt himself being hit from behind.

Twisting mid-way to falling to the floor, losing his grip on his pistol, Cain released a snarl of his own as he recognised the smirk on the face of his attacker.

Zero.

"Long time no see, Cain," his former friend muttered as he landed on top of him, a vicious-looking knife in his hand. "I think it's time to test our theory of exactly how many lives you have."

"I've got more than you," Cain retorted, twisting away from the blade as Zero thrust it down. "You should've stayed in your tin suit, Zero. I won't let you walk away again."

Zero laughed, a vaguely deranged sound that sent a shiver down his spine. "Who says I'll be walking anywhere? I quite like the thought of holing up here with your Princess for a while. Get better acquainted, if you know what I mean."

There was no way he could have missed the insinuation. Cain rode the wave of anger that coursed through him and used it to throw Zero off him. He glanced around himself, spotting the white handle of his pistol a short distance away. As he started stood and ran towards it, he heard the bang of a gun being fired quickly followed by a familiar cry of anger. Looking over, he saw Raw launch himself at a longcoat who'd fired the weapon and just beyond them, he caught a glimpse of a wolf lying limply on the floor.

"Interesting friends you have, Wyatt." Zero gave him another grin and casually stepped over the body of one of his fallen men. He either didn't notice or didn't care about the expression of wide-eyed fear frozen on his comrade's face or the bloody mess that was all that remained of the man's throat. "Wherever did you find them?"

Cain said nothing but inched a little further back, towards his pistol. 

"It's okay if you don't want to talk," Zero continued. "I'll talk instead. I don't want you to die too soon, not without knowing what you're going to miss when you do." It was the glint in his eye that unsettled Cain the most, a glimmer of madness that he immediately associated with the iron suit. In the weeks he'd been out with Jeb and his men, capturing longcoats and sending them back to Central City, Cain had helped release several men imprisoned by the Sorceress during her reign. Two out of every five of them sported the same look Zero had, their minds gone as a result of their captivity. "I've got my orders, you see, Cain, and I don't think you'll like them."

Cain forced himself not to react as Zero launched into an explanation of his role in the Witch's plans. He felt the anger building again and felt the fear that accompanied it, too. He tried not to listen, tried to block out Zero's descriptions of how he planned to accomplish his goal, and ground his teeth together to keep the mental images from forming in his mind.

Instead, he tried to focus on what else was happening in the room. There were more longcoats – dozens of them – pouring in from every doorway to the room. For every three men, there was one wolf, snapping and biting and snarling.

Carnage. Utter, complete carnage.

Zero didn't seem to notice what was going on around them. He was too busy concentrating on tormenting the Tin Man, his words coming fast and furious as he spoke with relish and enthusiasm. 

He didn't notice the wolf that was stalking him across the room, vengeance in its dark eyes as another of its pack mates was wounded by Zero's men.

Taking a chance as his pistol was finally within his grasp, Cain ducked and reached for it. Seeing the momentarily diversion as a chance to strike, Zero moved forward, arm moving in an arch as he threw the knife in his hand.

The blade twirled as it sliced through the air, heading towards its target.

A large grey wolf pounced, howling as the knife struck his flank. A smaller wolf, his mate, snarled as she leapt on the back of the unsuspecting knife-thrower.

There were shrill screams and agonised cries coupled with growls and snarls as the fighting reached its climax.

Then there was silence.

***

The welcome waiting for her at the palace was not the one she had been anticipating. Amara clenched her hands into fists, her nails slicing into the flesh of her palms as she watched the soldiers approach the carriage.

Members of the Queen's Guard, she realised, and not the Longcoats she'd been expecting.

Throwing Calletta a speculative glance, she reached for the ceremonial dagger she wore at the belt around her waist and acted decisively. Slicing first her palm and then her upper arm, she thrust the dagger into his stunned hands and cried out in pain.

Immediately, the doors to the carriage were flung open and several armed guards peered inside.

Curling up into her seat, Amara whimpered and hide her face, concealing a smile from view as the guards aimed their weapons at Calletta.

"I didn't... I didn't do anything!" The hapless Lord protested, dropping the blood stained dagger as he held his hands up to profess his innocence. 

Schooling her features into what she hoped was a pitiful expression of pain and pleading, Amara lifted her head and looked at the guards. She saw the moment they realised they were staring at the eldest Princess and not a stranger and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smirking.

"Princess Azkadellia!" The first, a dark haired man, reached out to her. "Are you hurt?"

"He tried to stab me!" She gasped, making sure the hand she used to grasp the soldier's trembled daintily. "He saw you instead of the Witch's men and tried to kill me." She choked out a sob and pressed her face against the stunned man's shoulder. "He said... He said he'd kill me like he killed DG, that he'd say I was possessed and he was doing it for the good of the O.Z."

"Like anyone would believe he was doing anything good for the O.Z." The mutter came from somewhere behind the man awkwardly easing her out of the carriage and Amara bit her lip gleefully.

"Take Lord Calletta to the dungeons with the rest of the Witch's men," the man holding her ordered. He pulled away when she was safely on the ground and was careful to put a respectful amount of distance between them. "Are you in need of a healer, Your Highness?" He eyed the blood oozing from the cuts on her palm and arm warily. "We have a limited staff with us but I'm sure..."

"I'll be fine, thank you." She flashed him a grateful smile. "I should be able to heal them myself, with my light," she added almost as an afterthought, though the magic she had at her disposal was considerably darker than that of the elder Gale princess.

Calletta was led away, protesting his innocence. No one was willing to listen to him and that was fine with Amara. Perfect, in fact. Her plan may have altered slightly but she was still on course to seize the throne and wrest control of the O.Z. away from the Gale bitches once and for all.

She allowed herself to be escorted into the palace, aware of the curious eyes of the O.Z. people watching from their places pressed against the bars of the palace gates. They would see their missing princess, rescued by the Queen's Guard, because it was what they wanted to see. Calletta and the Witch would be blamed for everything, leaving her free to embrace the role of the O.Z's latest heroine.

Thinking of her aunt, Amara stopped in the middle of the grand entrance hall. She arranged her features into an expression of fearful hope and stared imploringly at the soldiers around her. "My... My mother. Lord Calletta said... He said that she has been possessed, that the Witch hides within her." She willed tears into her eyes and made a show of blinking them away. "Is it true? Is my mother...?"

"The Witch has been captured, Your Highness. She is being kept away from the others but has not be harmed. Your sister ordered but has not been harmed. Your sister ordered that she be kept under guard until she can join us."

Even as she stared at him in surprise, Amara silently thanked the guard for being so forthcoming with such valuable information. "Do we know when that will be?" She asked quietly. "How long before my little sister comes home to us?"

The soldier before her opened his mouth but the answer came from behind him. Amara looked up to see a blond haired man descending the grand staircase slowly.

"She'll be here soon enough, Princess." Suspicion lurked in his eyes and it was all Amara could do not to smirk at him. "In the meantime, I'm sure you'll understand why I'd like you to be escorted to your suite and ask you to stay there until she does. My men will be outside if you need anything. For your own protection, of course."

"Of course," she repeated demurely. "If I may, Captain, I'd like to see my mother first. I think I have enough of my light to free her from the Witch's grasp."

The Captain – Jeb Cain, Azkadellia's memories identified him as – stared at her. "I'm not sure that's a good idea, Your Highness. It took both you and Princess DG last time." 'And even that didn't work as well as we thought,' was the silent addition she could see on his face.

"But she's weaker now, and I have the emerald of the eclipse to help me," Amara continued, lifting her fingers to touch the powerless stone. She sent a small current of magic into it, making it glow. "Please, Jeb. I know what she is going through. I went through it, too. I can't bear the thought of my mother suffering any longer than she needs to. Please."

Jeb Cain wasn't moved by her plea but it was overheard by someone who was, an unexpected ally Amara was grateful for.

"We have to let her try, Captain. We will let her try." Ahamo overtook the soldier on the staircase and rushed towards her. Amara smiled and took his outstretched hands. "My daughter," he murmured, pressing his lips to her forehead. "I thought we'd lost you."

"You almost did, Daddy." Affecting a childlike tone, Amara clutched his hands. "Please let me help Mother. I know I can't begin to atone for all the wrong I did whilst at the Witch's mercy but I can spare mother from having suffering any further."

Ahamo kept hold of one of her hands as he turned to face Jeb. "As Prince-Consort, I have command over the Queen's Guard," he reminded the young Captain. "I say we allow Azkadellia to help the Queen. Even if she fails, it can do no harm to try."

Jeb didn't appear convinced but Amara didn't mind. Within minutes, she found herself being led to the imprisoned Queen and smiled as another piece of her plan fell into place.

***

The room she found herself in was light and airy, with shimmering walls of a pale blue-green colour. DG knew she should be concerned, that she should be worrying about how to get back to her friends but the anxiety she'd expected didn't materialise.

If anything, she felt calmer and more at ease than she had in months.

"Please, sit." Only when she spoke did DG notice the blond woman sitting on one end of a pale green sofa. "You have questions, DG, but time is short and there are things I must tell you while we have this chance."

"The message the O.Z. kin sent me here for." Studying the blond woman, DG felt there was something familiar about her but couldn't immediately place it. "I know you... I've seen you before."

"I came to you once, in a dream," the woman admitted, her blues eyes for older than her ageless face suggested she could be. "I tried to warn you of what was coming but I've been here too long. My magic is not what it once was."

"Who are you?" DG took her place on the opposite end of the small sofa. "I feel I should know but I don't."

The woman smiled softly, amused at DG's honesty. "I am the one they call Ozma, DG. Former Queen of the Outer Zone and first Lady of Light."

DG stared, her jaw dropping in shock. "Ozma... You're... Wow. Even though the tree told me you were real, part of me didn't believe it. And I'm still struggling with the whole being... Well, that we're..."

"Related both by blood and by magic." Ozma's smile widened. "It is so good to finally meet you, my child. I have waited so long for you to come to be in this world."

"You mean for someone like me to be born," DG clarified. "With my light."

"For you specifically, DG." Ozma reached out to cover DG's hand with her own. Immediately, a brilliant white light formed between their palms, stranger and brighter than DG had ever experienced – even with Azkadellia. Warmth spread through her and the magic at her core all but purred in response. "I knew you would come here seeking answers. It is why I waited and why I imprisoned myself behind the glass walls of this realm so that I could guide you through the transition you face."

"Transition?"

"From Princess of Light to Lady of Light," Ozma explained. "And in your fight against Amara. Together, your light and mine, we will be able to end the darkness that has plagued the O.Z. for far too long."

"Is that really possible?" DG's eyes widened. "To free the O.Z. from darkness?"

"I daresay that at some point there will be something else, someone else, that brings darkness to our world, DG, but that is inevitable. Light needs dark to survive." Ozma's eyes were serious. "However, the dark magic of Amara and her ilk has existed for far too long. It is unnatural and disturbs the balance of magic in the O.Z. It is for this reason that I have waited so long for you, so that I can guide you in your quest."

"My quest feels impossible," DG admitted quietly. "My light may be stronger now the O.Z. has chosen me but Amara is older than I am. She knows more than I could hope to."

"That is not necessarily true." Ozma squeezed DG's hand reassuringly. "Amara has been trapped here for as long as I, imprisoned by our ancestors. Her magic is strong but it is old. Yours is both old and new, DG, and with a little help, you will easily defeat her."

DG knew she didn't look convinced when Ozma squeezed her hand again. "I don't know how."

"That is why I am here, my darling. To help." Ozma clasped DG's hands in both of hers. "You have heard that the magic of the fairies runs through your veins. The fairy kingdom isolated itself from the rest of the O.Z. many annuals before but it still exists and there you will find what you need to defeat Amara and unite the realm and kin of the O.Z. once more."

As DG stared at her, struggling to comprehend, Ozma laughed lightly.

"You have heard of the emerald, have felt its power. Surely you knew that it didn't belong." When DG nodded reluctantly, Ozma continued. "There is another, a precious gem that holds my light. I stored my magic inside a perfect sapphire stone, DG, as a gift for you your time of need. I left it in the fairy realm for safe-keeping and there it waits now. For you and only you, the daughter of my heart."

Instead of feeling overjoyed or relieved at the revelation, the overriding emotion DG felt was dismay. "I don't have time to go on another quest," DG despaired. "I have to go to Central City, to Az and mother and father and the people... I don't have time!"

Ozma patted her hand. "The entrance to the fairy realm is on your way, DG. My most loyal friend waits to lead you there. I promise, it will add little time onto your journey."

DG believed her, even though the thought of delaying her arrival home made her chest ache. "There's nothing else I need to know about the sapphire, is there? It's not going to come back and bite me in the ass one day if I take it from its hiding place?"

To her surprise, Ozma laughed, a delighted sound. "You have my word, DG. The magic of the sapphire is pure light. It can only be used for good, which is why I hid it and had all reference to it erased from history. Evil cannot use the magic stored within but I feared the dark witches would try to destroy it or hide it themselves if they knew of its existence."

Ozma tilted her head to the side, a grown marring her smooth brow. She rose fluidly, pulling DG to her feet. 

"It is time for you to go back, DG. Your Chosen needs you, as do your faithful companions. Much blood has been spilt in your absence."

Alarm flooded through her and DG let herself be led to the only mirror in the room – a single full-length pane of glass that looked nothing like the one she'd been pulled through.

"What about you?" She asked, turning back to Ozma at the last minute. "Can you leave this place now you've done what you need to?"

Ozma smiled, the sad smile DG finally recognised from her nightmarish vision. "Worry not for me, DG. I made my choice many annuals ago and have no regrets." Ozma leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to DG's forehead. "Go, my child. May your light guide you now and keep you safe from darkness."

It was light that engulfed her as she reached her hand out towards the mirror, light that swept her from Ozma's realm and back into her own.

***

It wasn't Cain or Raw who waited for her on the other side of the mirror in the throne room from which she'd disappeared. DG narrowed her eyes and summoned her light as she stared warily at the man before her.

Delcor stared back, an eyebrow arched at the ball of light resting in her palm. "Lady DG," he greeted her formally, "I presume you received your message from my Queen."

"Your Queen?" In her surprise, DG allowed the ball of magic to be reabsorbed into her body. "You're Ozma's friend, the one to lead me to the fairy kingdom." She blinked, astonished. "You're a fairy!"

"In human form," Delcor confirmed dourly, his tone suggesting his distaste for it. "We must hurry, Lady. The battle may be over but your presence is still required in the entrance hall of the Black Palace."

"The Black Palace? Is that where we are?"

"Indeed." Delcor turned swiftly on his heel and strode from the room, leaving her to hurry after him. "It was originally a safe place for the Royal Families of the O.Z, a concealed residence no one outside of the trusted few knew about. It was for that reason Queen Tiana chose this place for Amara's prison. Few knew of its existence and none who would want to free the daughter of Mombi."

"How do you know this?" DG quickened her pace to keep up. "How old are you, Delcor?"

"Older than you would believe," the fairy Lord answered stiffly.

DG commanded her magic to scan the man in front of her, gasping when her light encountered a familiar form of magic lurking beneath the surface of his human guise. "You cast a spell on my room at the palace! You mixed your magic with mine!"

"I did, knowing your own magic would recognise it instinctively," Delcor confirmed. "Magic that you would be able to sense but would not be duly alarmed by. I merely strengthened your own wards, Lady, and cast my own protection over the emerald so that only a daughter of Gale blood could locate it. Not that it helped," he added in a low mutter she thought she wasn't supposed to hear.

"Maybe if you'd just warned me instead of playing second fiddle to Calletta's bad guy routine, we couldn't be in this mess," DG retorted. "There's a time and a place for mystery and secret keeping, you know."

"Would you have believed me, Lady?" Delcor didn't turn to face her but she could sense the scepticism in his tone. "You'd not yet learned of the fairies existence, outside of childhood tales, myth and legend."

"I've talked to wolves and cats and trees in the last few days," DG countered with a roll of her eyes. "Least you could have done was try... Oh, my!"

She caught a glimpse of a body, bloody and still, and rushed passed Delcor to study it closer. Not Cain or Raw, she thought with relief, her gorge rising at the mangled remains. Casting her gaze around the room, her heart broken at the sight of so much death and destruction. Bodies, both human and wolf, were scattered around the floor.

"What happened here?" She wondered aloud. "How could this happen in such a short space of time?"

"Mankind can be lethal," Delcor commended disdainfully. "It is pitiful how mortals are willing to waste the precious little time they are given in this life."

"Wyatt and Raw?" She spun away from yet another body – a Longcoat – and stared at Delcor. "Where are my friends? And the other wolves? Surely they must have survived?"

Delcor nodded sharply. "This way. They have the leader of these men but are unable to break through the protective spell Amara cast over him."

She had her suspicions on who the Longcoat leader was even before Delcor led her to a smaller room where Cain and Raw, both looking exhausted, stood beside a stone statue as Zero, laughing hysterically, sat within a circle of snarling wolves.

"DG!" Cain walked towards her immediately, the tension in his body and the sudden silence from Zero making her more vigilant. Cain was careful to keep his body between her and his former colleague, despite of the wall of wolves that shielded her from harm. "Thank Ozma you're okay!"

She laughed at his choice of words; she couldn't help it, and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm glad you're okay, too."

She let him guide her around the circle, aware of Zero's gaze tracking her every move. She greeted Raw with a quick embrace before focusing on the statue beside him. Tears filled her eyes as she gasped and reached out to her frozen friend.

"Glitch..."

The stone felt cold initially but grew warmer beneath her touch. Her light sensed the dark magic within it and responded eagerly, awaiting her command. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the spell beneath her fingertips, feeling each of its delicate strands drenched in magic. She couldn't break them, she knew, but she felt the remains of Amara's powers grow warm and pliant in response to her own superior powers.

"Bring Zero to me," she commanded without opening her eyes to see who would follow the order. Her magic coursed through her, filling every pore. She reached blindly for the Longcoat leader, grasping his shoulder. 

She didn't see his hand reach for her, or notice the malicious glint in his eyes. She wasn't aware of Cain moving to block her from harm or Delcor casting a binding spell of his own to keep the Longcoat leader still.

DG focused every ounce of her light on one specific task. She felt Amara's dark magic become overpowered by her own as it bent to her will. She registered a change in texture under the palm she'd laid on Glitch's shoulder first, seconds before feeling cool stone form beneath the hand she held against Zero.

In a matter of minutes, the spell Amara had cast on Glitch had shifted to Zero. Because it was Amara's magic originally, the protection spell the dark witch had cast on Zero failed to recognise it as a threat and allowed the transfer to take place.

"Hey, Doll." Glitch's voice caused her to open her eyes to find her mother's former advisor grinning at her with equal measures of relief and gratitude. "What did I miss?"

An answering smile spread across her face as she hugged him tightly. Her smile only widened when she felt Raw and Cain join the embrace, knowing she could face anything she had to with her closest friends at her side.

The foursome broke apart at the sound of someone clearing their throat and turned as one to look at Delcor.

"As moving as I'm sure this is," the fairy Lord said sardonically, "I believe there's still the matter of an evil witch to attend to?"

***

Her aunt's eyes flashed indignantly, her arms folded across the chest of the slender body she'd stolen. Beneath the lilac of Lavender's eyes, Amara could see the darkness of the soul belonging to her aunt and felt the dark magic of the witch in front of her search out her own.

It was the first time she'd seen her aunt in centuries, the first time since Alvah had been banished into the caves. Her mother had always despaired of her younger sister, convinced that her hunger for power would be her downfall. Her mother was weak, Amara had thought at the time, and Alvah was foolish for letting herself be defeated – twice.

Amara would fix that. She would avoid the mistakes of her blood and succeed where they had both failed.

She approached the bars of Alvah's cell and stared at the witch within the Queen's body.

"What has become of you, Mother?" She said softly, injecting just the right amount of sorrow into her voice. "Don't worry. I'm here now." She saw the Witch's confusion and bit the inside of her mouth to keep back a smile. Louder, she addressed those who had accompanied her to the isolated cell – Captain Cain, Ahamo and three of the Queen's Guards. "I can sense the Witch. I don't know I was able to miss it before, her magic is so vile and clear to me now."

As her aunt's eyes widened, Amara allowed herself just a small smile.

"Can you free your mother, Azkadellia?" Ahamo asked, the hope in his voice painfully clear. "Are you strong enough without your sister?"

Amara hesitated for a moment before turning to him. "I believe I can do it, father. The Witch is weak. Mother must be making it hard for her."

Purely for show, Amara took hold of the emerald around her neck. She summoned her magic and challenged it through the empty stone, commanding it silently. Tendrils of green light left the gem, streaking through the air towards her aunt.

As Alvah realised what was about to happen, she opened her mouth to scream. The green light muffled the sound, wrapping around her protesting body. Behind her, Amara could hear the gasps and murmured concerns of the Queen's soldiers but she ignored them.

She sensed her aunt's magic and urged it to join with her own. She searched the Gale Queen's body for any vestige of light magic and was pleased to find not a single trace.

For that reason, the Queen would be allowed to live. She might make a good ally yet, Amara thought, or at the very least she would be an interesting and no doubt amusing pet.

'Why are you doing this, Amara?' She heard her aunt's voice in her head as she pulled the witch's essence from the Queen's body and into her own. 'After all that I have done for you!'

'You have done all I asked,' Amara agreed sweetly, smiling despite the perspiration that formed on her brow. 'For that, I am thankful but truly, Aunt Alvah, you must have realised that by doing so, you have outlived your usefulness. I have no need of you now.'

'You ungrateful little bitch,' Alvah spat viciously, her spirit clinging stubbornly to the last ounce of power she had. 'You don't know what you're doing, girl, or who you're dealing with now.'

'I'm dealing with my aunt,' Amara replied mentally. 'Making sure that you cannot ruin my plans the way your ruined your own.'

Her aunt's laughter rang out in her head, a wicked cackle that held no trace of humour. 'Not me, child. I was not referring to myself.'

'Then who? Who were you referring to? Aunt Alvah?' 

Her demands went unanswered; her aunt, the evil Witch Alvah, was gone, vanished into whatever life next awaited those of their ilk. Sinking the her knees, Amara's body trembled as it strained to absorb her aunt's life-force into her own. 

On the other side of the bars, the Queen of the O.Z. slumped to the ground, her body her own again.

'Bide your time, Queen of the mortal realm,' a voice advised the Queen quietly. 'The Lady of Light will come to you soon, and both of your daughters shall be returned.'

Queen Lavender, oblivious to the frantic calls of her husband for a healer, kept her eyes closed and smiled. Deep within her body, her blood sung as light it had been without for far too long slowly began to return.

***

"Here? The hidden doorway into the fairy kingdom is here?" DG stood with her hands on her hips, her blue eyes wide as she stared at Delcor.

The fairy lord wasn't affected by her incredulous; he merely arched an eyebrow and inclined his head. "Why else would I have brought you here, Lady DG?"

She couldn't answer that, nor could any of her three confused friends. The wolf pack, those who'd survived, including the alpha and his mate, had been left guarding the entrance of the maze at Finaqua, the centre of which, according to Delcor, was the entrance to the fairy realm.

There was no doorway that she could see, just a pretty water fountain that looked like it was carved from light green stone. DG watched as Cain walked around its perimeter, his brow furrowed as he searched for something they couldn't see.

"It is no use, Mister Cain. You cannot see what is not yet there to be seen." At the Tin Man's glare, the corners of Delcor's mouth seemed to twitch.

"Riddles aren't exactly useful right now." DG interrupted before Cain could reach the pistol she could see his hand edging towards. "Ozma said you'd help me, Delcor, so do it. Show me where I can find the sapphire so we can get going."

Delcor sighed, any trace of amusement fleeing his features. "Very well, Lady DG. I will show you how to enter the kingdom of our kin."

He conjured a small dagger that had been concealed on his person and strode towards her. Before anyone could react, he ran the sharp blade over the palm of her hand, causing her yelp, Cain to shout, Raw to growl and Glitch to glare.

"Hey!" She tried to pull her arm around but his grip was too strong. "What was that for?"

"I am doing as instructed," Delcor responded almost primly. "Showing you how you may gain entrance to the hidden realm, as my Lady requested."

Somehow, DG thought she knew the Lady he was referring to was Ozma and not herself. 

Delcor tugged her towards the fountain and turned her hand so it was facing palm down. As they watched, a drop of blood oozed from the slice in her flesh and fell from her hand into the water of the fountain. At first, nothing happened. Then the fountain began to move. It spiralled upwards in a slow, almost grateful manner, revealing a glowing blue archway beneath it.

Moving to one side, Delcor motioned for DG to precede him through. "The entrance to the fairy realm, Lady DG. Queen Selene of the Fairies, daughter of Tiana, awaits your arrival."

With wide eyes, DG glanced at her companions. Immediately, the three men closed rang around her, flanking her as she prepared to walk through the archway. Taking a deep breath, she moved forwards. Another gasp escaped her as she found herself not in the same sort of hallway like she'd imagined but in the sparkling reception room of a palace so much grander, so much brighter, than any she'd ever seen before.

She didn't have time to admire the crystal walls and floors and ceiling for long, though, as a welcome was called out by a slender woman sitting on a delicate throne of glittering silver.

"Welcome, newcomers." The woman, with long blond hair and emerald green eyes, smiled at them and stood. She wore a shimmering dress of pale purple and, as she moved, DG caught a glimpse of ethereal wings of the palest green she'd ever seen neatly folded against her back. The woman's gaze slid passed DG and her companions to Delcor, and her smile instead grew warmer and wider. "Welcome home, High Lord." She stepped down from the dais the throne was one and held a hand out to him. "It has been far too long, Alvis."

Delcor – Alvis – moved past DG and the others. His human guise was gone, and he appeared both older and otherworldly. His ears were more pointed, his facial features softer. His wings, a shade of dark blue, fluttered once against his back.

"Queen Selene," he greeted the fairy queen formally, taking her outstretched hand and kissing her knuckles. "May I introduce you to your cousin, Lady DG of the Light, Princess of the House of Gale."

Selene's eyes widened at the full title and her attention immediately fixated on DG. "Welcome to our kingdom, Lady of Light," she said in just as formal a tone, before adding, "I have long hoped to one day meet a cousin of my blood. AS you are here, I presume the prophecy has come to pass and you seek our Greatest Grandmother's light to aid you in your quest."

More than a little stunned, it took DG a short while to be formulate a response. "She said she left it here for safe-keeping. Ozma, I mean. The sapphire."

The fairy queen arched an eyebrow and glanced at the man beside her. "You've seen her? Spoken to her?" At DG's nod, tears filled her eyes. "So it is true that she banished herself to the unreachable realm. Oh, Alvis, I'm so sorry."

Alvis shrugged stiffly. "My Lady did what needed to be done, Selene. I cannot resent her that."

"It can't be an unreachable realm if I was there," DG pointed out quietly, her expression confused. "Wait, did she call you Alvis?"

The man in question turned to her and gave her a small nod. "Indeed she did, Lady DG. Delcor is the name of my mortal form. Alvis is the name I am better known by."

"Alvis." DG's eyes narrowed as she recalled her conversation with the old tree. "Alvis as in Ozma's...?"

"I am my Lady's Chosen," Alvis confirmed. "Her husband and mate, the father of her children."

DG blinked, her jaw dropping. Beside her, Raw grinned as he made the connection while Cain stared at DG in concern and Glitch frowned, bewildered.

"High Lord Alvis is DG's Greatest Grandfather," Raw explained for the benefit of the others. He nudged Cain's side. "As Ozma was first Lady of Light, Alvis was the first Chosen, as Tin Man is to DG."

"Right." Cain looked at Alvis, feeling a new sense of respect and kinship for the fairy lord. "That's why you helped us escape from the palace, Ahamo and me."

Alvis inclined his head, looking less like the Count Delcor they'd known by the second. "It is my duty to protect those loved by the Lady of Light. In the absence of my Lady, my guardianship falls to her heir." Turning to DG, his eyes were both proud and sorrowful. "Queen Selene referred to the realms in which Ozma resides as unreachable because to us, it is. Only a Lady of Light has enough magic to bridge the gap between the realms and move through them freely. As you are now Lady of Light, my Ozma cannot leave."

"What? No!" DG protested. Even the silently supportive hand Cain moved to her arm didn't calm her. "That can't be right. That's not fair. Why would she imprison herself there, knowing she'd be trapped when the O.Z. appointed me in her place?" Her eyes filled with angry tears at the injustice of it, her heart aching at the thought of what Ozma had done for her. Ozma and Alvis were separated, forever, and she couldn't imagine herself in their situation. Knowing Cain was alive but knowing she could never see him, hear him, touch him... "I never would have accepted if I'd known," she swore vehemently. "Why is it everything in this place has a price?"

"It is the way of all things, DG." The quiet reassurance came from Alvis, her Greatest Grandfather. "My Lady would not wish for things to be different so neither can I."

"We have had annuals to accept this, Lady DG," Queen Selene chimed in softly. "I grew up with stories of Ozma and Alvis, Dorothy Gale and Glinda, you and your sister. It was always said that the fairy realm would reunite with the rest of the O.Z. when the next Lady of Light came to be. The sacrifice Ozma has made means that that future may now come to pass. To wish to change it would be to insult the gift she gave her freedom to pass to you."

As Selene waved her hand, a crystal pedestal appeared in the room between them. On top of the pedestal was a shiny sapphire pendant on a silver chain, lying atop of a shimmering white cushion.

The magic within it called to her. Unlike the emerald with its siren song, the musical voice of the sapphire was warm and inviting. Familiar. Hers.

"Take it, DG." Alvis carefully took the pendant from the cushion and held it out to her. "It is as your Greatest Grandmother Ozma wishes."

DG took the pendant with trembling hands and carefully put the delicate chain over her head. The sapphire glowed once as it settled against her chest, its weight welcome and somehow comforting.

"I will escort you and your friends back to Central City," Alvis told her after a moment of silence. "It is my duty to protect, and my honour to serve."

She wanted to tell him that he didn't need to, that he could stay in the fairy realm where he so obviously preferred. She couldn't, instinct telling her that to do so would be to insult him. 

"We'd be pleased to have you, High Lord Alvis," she said instead, her blue gaze locking with his. "On the condition that you keep you true form." When his eyes widened in surprise, DG continued softly. "The kin of the O.Z., no matter what their race, will be free and encouraged to walk in their true form as long as I live. The O.Z. needs to heal and be reunited. The only way it can do that is those who live within it are truly and wholly accepted."

Alvis nodded slowly and Queen Selene gave her an approving smile.

"Lady DG of the Light," the fairy queen declared, "may I take this opportunity to swear allegiance to you on behalf of the fairy people. We look forward to your return so we may further discuss the fairy kingdom rejoining the O.Z. once more."

"Thank you." DG smiled, her expression relaxing as her fingers mindlessly played with the chain around her neck. "Well, I guess there's no putting it off any longer. Let's go home and finish this."

***

When Princess DG returned to the Central City of the O.Z., she did it in a way that would be remembered for hundreds of annuals if not thousands. The young princess, who most had last seen with a noose around her neck, strode through the city streets with the confidence and grace of one much older.

At her side, Wyatt Cain, former Tin Man, walked with his hand in hers, his fedora tipped low over his face to hide his expression from the crowds that quickly gathered to watch the procession. There was no doubt, though, that the man was watching everyone carefully despite the hat seemingly obscuring his vision.

On her other side, a man many thought looked familiar but no one could place walked with his head held high – and his wings jutting proudly from his back. There were whispers and murmurs but he didn't once falter as the people began to realise just what his appearance meant: that the fairy people had returned to the realm of the O.Z.

Slightly behind them walked Glitch, formerly known as Ambrose, and the Viewer, Raw. Two of the Heroes of the Eclipse and known to be close friends of the Royal Princess, neither seemed to notice the people clamouring around to watch.

The big surprise was the lack of Queen's Guard around the Princess – and the fact that the platoon of bodyguards everyone expected her to have had been replaced, it seemed, by animals. Wolves and cats, the latter of which had been seen leaving the palace and gathering on the outskirts of the city earlier that day, padded behind the princess.

And they spoke.

Their voices could be heard, loud and clear, in the minds of those gathered in the streets. The people of the O.Z. wouldn't understand it until much later, until Princess DG took to the balcony of the palace to address the people and explain that the O.Z. kin had re-awoken, but they were willing to welcome the sight if it meant their princess was back.

The group travelled towards the palace, and the people of the O.Z. fell into line behind them without instruction. Once they reached the palace gates, the guardsman on duty gave a shout and opened them immediately.

Princess DG continued forward, not once looking back. Accompanied by her friends and the man from the fairy realm, the people of the O.Z. watched her disappear into the palace. The O.Z. kin followed and then the doors were closed.

What happened next, the people of the O.Z. would never truly know.

***

Amara stood staring at the throne of the Central City palace, her gaze hungry as the studied it.

Finally. Finally. The throne was within her grasp, control of the O.Z. would shift to her and her blood and the Gales... They would be finished. She thought she might let them live, at least for a while. It might look suspicious, otherwise, if Princess Azkadellia had her family killed so soon after ascending to the throne.

No, she would let them live. For a while. And then if an accident or two should befall them, well then surely that would make the people love her all the more.

And once they were all gone and the people looked to her for guidance and leadership... Then she could reveal her true self, take back the head that had been taken by the Queen's Guards and secured in the royal crypt in the basement until they could figure out what to do with it.

The people would have no choice but to follow her; she would have their earned their loyalty by then.

She heard a commotion from behind her and bit back a growl. Captain Cain had reluctantly granted her freedom after she'd proven herself by ridding the Queen of the evil Witch but had insisted two of his men would be shadowing her at any given time.

"I thought I asked to be left alone," she said, her hands clenching into fists as her anger rose. She spin around to see who had disturbed her solitude and found herself facing a dark haired woman she'd never lain eyes on before but knew instinctively who she was. Forcing her features to relax into a smile, she took a step forward and threw open her arms. "DG! My little sister! How good it is to have you home!"

DG lifted a hand and Amara stopped suddenly. She frowned as she encountered an invisible wall, the frown deepening when she tried to move around it and found her feet were seemingly frozen to the polished marble floor.

"DG...?"

"You are not my sister, Amara. Don't even pretend that you are." Around the Gale princess's neck, a blue coloured stone began to glow, releasing strands of light magic. DG took a step forward, the strands of light wrapping around her almost protectively. "Your mother failed against us, your aunt failed. Your grandmother was killed by a Gale woman with no magic to speak of. What made you think you would succeed where they did not?"

"You don't know who you're talking to." Dropping the act, Amara snarled and summoned her power. She unleashed a wave of dark magic that broke through the spell holding her in place and smirked in triumph. "You are nothing but a child compared to me. Your magic is young and pitiful. I could crush you in a heartbeat."

"Oh, really?" DG crossed her arms over her chest and arched an eyebrow. "Why don't you try it then? Show me what you're made of?"

"With pleasure." Amara's eyes darkened as she commanded the magic inside her to do her bidding. She sent it barrelling towards DG, dark green serpents of magic slithering through the air, hissing and bearing their teeth to the young princess.

DG stood still and let them come, tilting her head to the side when the serpents reached her... and then disappeared, seemingly absorbed by the bluish-white light surrounding her.

"Is that the best you've got?" DG asked mockingly. "Really, I was expecting more. Surely you must have learned a thing or two from your family?"

Amara scowled and ground her teeth. Beads of sweat broke out across her hairline as she dug deep and poured every ounce of magic she had into getting through the shield around the Gale princess. Her efforts were rewarded when the dark magic that burst from her managed to make DG stumble a step backwards but it didn't have the desired effect of making the princess turn to stone.

Behind DG, Amara could see a blond man, an older version of Captain Cain, standing beside three others. She did a double-take when she recognised Glitch, Azkadellia's travelling companion, and realised his being there meant DG had managed to break the spell she'd cast on him. 

With a wave of her hand, DG dismissed the cloud of dark magic hovering around her. She took another step forward and waved her hand again. Immediately, Amara found herself imprisoned by an invisible cage.

"I'll make this quick," DG said, her voice soft. "I have no wish to see you suffer, Amara. I don't wish for anyone to suffer anymore than they have done already." Glancing over her shoulder, DG looked towards the doorway. "You can come in, Mother. It's time to bring Az back."

The men at the threshold of the room moved aside and Queen Lavender strode into the room, her husband behind her. Amara stared at her and gaped. The Queen's once pale hair was dark and vibrant, her skin glowing with unmistakeable magic.

As Amara watched, Queen Lavender approached her daughter and took DG's hand. A brilliant white light flared between their joint palms and both mother and daughter smiled in satisfaction. Together, they advanced towards Amara, their clasped hands filling the dark witch with more fear than anything else she'd seen and lived through.

They passed through the invisible barrier Amara herself couldn't break and each reached out to take one of her hands. She tried to stop them, to pull away, but her magic was spent and her body refused to obey.

Soon, the three women were joined in a circle, their hands clasped. Amara could only stare as she felt her body – her physical form – dissolve and another take its place. Somehow, Princess DG and Queen Lavender were able to summon Azkadellia's rightful body. 

White light filled the circle of Gale women as Amara's spirit was trapped inside it. As DG's eyes slid shut, light pouring from both of her hands where they were clasped with her mother and sister, she let her head fall back and the sapphire around her neck began to pulse.

Blue-white magic joined that of the Gales, ancient and pure, power unlike any of them had ever known. It wrapped around Amara's spirit, squeezed as she screamed wordlessly, somehow both soothing and suffocating at the same time.

When DG opened her eyes again, they, too, glowed with ancient power, her dark hair whipping around her face by a breeze only she could feel.

"Be at peace, Amara, daughter of Mombi." The lilting voice of the youngest Gale princess was both hers and someone else's. "The Lady of Light commands it."

It was the last thing Amara heard as she vanished from existence, the dark magic she possessed fading as the land of the O.Z. both claimed and neutralised it once more.

The three Gale women stood for a moment longer until the light between them faded. DG blinked to clear her vision, a bright smile spreading across her face as soon as she could see again. She squeezed her mother's hand, and her sisters, and felt the smile slip when they both continued to stare at her and the pendant around her neck in stunned awe.

"You're glowing, Deege," Azkadellia murmured, her voice barely a whisper. "You're... The magic coming off you is incredible. It's both old and new but yours. It feels like you."

"It is me. It's who – what – I am now. What I had to become." DG felt a moment of sadness for all that had been lost or changed so that it was possible for her to be standing with her loved ones. 

"You are the Lady of Light," her mother whispered, her lavender eyes shimmering with tears – tears of pride, DG was relieved to see. "Oh, my Angel. My Azkadellia. My girls." She let go of their hands only to wrap her arms around them both, weeping silently as she clung to her children.

It was only then that DG and Azkadellia remembered that their mother – their true mother – had already been under the Witch's possession on the day of the double eclipse. Both sisters felt tears sting their eyes as they returned their mother's embrace, three daughters of the House of Gale finally – truly – reunited.

***

The ceremony was to take place at Finaqua, the only place in the O.Z. that was both home to the mortal and fairy realms. It was the final step to sealing DG's fate as the Lady of Light, the final stage in showing the inhabitants of the O.Z. that a stronger, united realm was rapidly coming to be.

DG stood in her room at the palace, staring at her reflection in the full-length mirror. The gown she wore was a combination of both the O.Z. and fairy coronation gown and it was beautiful... but still somehow didn't feel right.

Someone cleared their voice and she turned away from the mirror to find her father watching her, a beaming grin on his face as he held out his hand.

"They're ready for you, DG. Your people are waiting."

With a smile she hoped would keep the nerves she felt from showing, DG reached out and took his arm. Her father would be escorting her down to the gardens by the lake, where the ceremonial circle had already been prepared for her by both her mother and sister under the guidance of the O.Z. itself.

Twin moons hung in the night sky, full and bright, reminding her all too keenly of the first drawing down ceremony she'd performed with Jeb and a few of his men as witnesses. The ceremony she was about to perform would be witnessed by dozens more – friends and family, people and kin, fairies and mortals.

The ceremony would double as both her official beginning of the Lady of Light and the official bonding of said Lady with her Chosen. The second part of the ceremony had been suggested by Alvis, who had undergone a similar ritual with Ozma. DG had half-expected Cain to balk at the idea but was pleasantly surprised when he'd agreed without hesitation.

It was, he'd told her later when the two of them had a moment alone to catch their breaths, a fair alternative to the full state wedding he was sure her mother would have insisted on arranging for them otherwise.

On her father's arm, in the shimmering dress of pale blue, DG felt like she was floating more than walking. The butterflies dancing anxiously in her stomach began to fade when she was finally outside and felt the soft grass of the O.Z. beneath her feet and disappeared entirely when she caught a glimpse of the man waiting for her within the circle.

Cain watched her approach, his usually unreadable eyes reassuring her, telling her everything she needed to know.

On the edge of the circle, Jeb stood with Glitch and Raw on one side of the space in which she would enter. Her mother, Azkadellia, Alvis and Queen Selene stood on the other. Various members of the O.Z kin, including the wolf alpha and feline matriarch, lined the circle and behind them were dozens of people she wouldn't have been able to name.

Being honest with herself, DG had to admit she'd almost forgotten her own name, too.

The moment she stepped into the circle, she felt the raw power of the O.Z. flood the carefully drawn marks. The lines of the circle glowed like molten silver, sealing her inside with Cain.

'We are gathered on this night at this place of high magic to witness the bond between Lady and Land, Woman and Man.' It was a familiar voice that spoke, though wasn't that of the old tree as DG had been expecting. She moved to stand in front of Cain and exhaled slowly. 'Once sealed, neither bond can be broken or severed. It is eternal, it is absolute. Do you wish to proceed, Lady's Chosen?'

"I do." Having being briefed by Alvis, Cain took DG's hand and slid the simple band of entwined gold and silver over her finger. "I accept the role of Chosen, of Guardian, and enter into the bond with my Lady wholly and completely."

'Then from this moment on, the O.Z. and its ilk recognise you as Lord Wyatt Cain, Chosen and Guardian, Mate and Husband of Lady DG of the Light.' 

There was a moment of silence as the couple, newly wedded for all intents and purposes, exchanged giddy smiles.

'DG, Princess of Light, Daughter of the House of Gale. You have already accepted the role of Lady of Light of the O.Z. You stand before your Chosen and your people to seal your union with the land. Speak now, and be heard by all.'

DG took a deep breath and began to make her vow to the O.Z, its kin and its people. "I accept the role of Lady of Light with a pure and true heart. I hereby swear that from this day, I will faithfully serve the O.Z. and its kin until my dying day with every breath I take. I vow that I will be fair and just and that all those within the realms of my ruling will be treated as equals, with respect and love. I stand before the O.Z., its kin and its people, and ask them to bear witness to this vow. I ask them to witness my union with both the realms and with the man who stands before me, my Chosen and my Guardian. I give myself with perfect love and perfect trust and accept that which is given to me. I swear not to take that with which I have been gifted for granted and promise to uphold the vows I have undertaken eternally."

As soon as the last word was spoken, the circle became flooded with light. DG felt Cain's hand tighten on her own and closed her eyes momentarily against the glare, opening them again when she heard a gasp from somewhere behind her.

She wasn't sure which was the cause of the surprised murmurs of those gathered to witness the ceremony; the fact that she was suddenly dressed in a different gown – a shimmering cream dress that conveyed both innocence and power, the silver slippers that somehow adorned her feet or the woman who had materialised in the circle alongside her and Cain.

"Ozma." The reverent whisper came from beyond the circle, from Alvis.

Ozma smiled at him, her eyes luminous in the light of the moons, but her gaze never faltered from the young woman before her. "My Lady," she said softly, curtseying to DG. 

"How are you here?" DG wondered. "I knew it was you, I recognised your voice, but you're here. How?"

"You summoned me, DG." Ozma's smile grew, her expression soft. "You have the power now. You and you alone can bridge the gap between this and the unreachable realm. By the power of the O.Z., I pronounce you Lady of Light, leader of the O.Z. and its associated realms. Be true to yourself, my child, and you will accomplish all your heart desires."

The circle of silver light faded and Alvis stepped into it. Everyone else stayed outside, almost afraid of intruding. 

"My Ozma," the High Lord murmured, his hand shaking as he reached out to her. "Is it truly you, my Beloved?"

"It is, my Heart." Ozma accepted his hand, and then his kiss, a tear slipping down her cheek. "It is time for me to depart, Alvis. To leave this world and cross over to the life beyond."

"Then it is time for me also, my Ozma." Alvis pressed her hand against his cheek. "I have waited a lifetime for you, and would wait a hundred lifetimes more."

The newly reunited couple turned to DG and Cain, their features arranged in identical expressions of pride and hope.

"It is time for us to go," Ozma murmured, reaching out to DG with one hand. Without releasing her, Alvis reached out for Cain with the other. "We have been too long in this world, denied the chance at moving on to the next. We leave the O.Z., its kin, its people and its realms in your capable hands and request that you release us from our burdens so that we may at last be free."

"Once I agree to it, I'll never see you again, will I?" DG asked quietly, her heart both full and aching at the same time. "You're asking me to let you die."

"Dying in this life does not necessarily mean the end of all things," Ozma responded just as quietly. "We are no longer needed here, daughter of my heart. Have faith in yourself, as you do in those around you."

"If you're sure it's what you both want?" DG looked between them, biting back a sorrowful sigh when they both agreed it was without hesitation. Cain gave her hand a supportive squeeze and took a step closer to her side, all without breaking the circle that the four of them made with their joint hands. "Then so be it." Squaring her shoulders, raising her voice, DG spoke. "My first act as Lady of Light is to release you both from that which binds you to this life. Be free, and be at peace. Take with you the love and gratitude of all who live in these lands, for the sacrifice you made centuries ago and the dedication to which you have carried out your duties as First Lady of Light and her Chosen."

Once the decree was spoken aloud, the circle filled with magic again. When it cleared, both Ozma and Alvis were gone and a sense of serenity was left in their wake. The witnesses gathered around the circle, unsure of what they'd seen, were startled when Queen Selene of the fairies began to clap, silent tears slipping down her cheeks but were quick to join in.

Cain wrapped his arms around DG as those gathered began to celebrate, the atmosphere turning joyous despite the sadness lingering in the air. He pressed his lips to her forehead and her nose before finally kissing her lips, sealing their union in the traditional way of men.

"You are my heart, my life," he murmured, making a quiet, private vow of his own.

DG smiled at him through tears of her own, knowing that somewhere Ozma and Alvis were together instead of facing an eternity apart. Just as she and her Tin Man were together, and would be throughout whatever trials and tribulations awaited them on the next stage of their journey. "And you are mine, always."

A cheer went up from around the circle as the couple kissed again, embracing each other and their future together.

***  
End.


End file.
